Former National Police chief, Allan Purisima lost yet another round at the Sandiganbayan as the court junked his plea for the outright dismissal of the perjury case he is facing saying that it is better that he responded to the accusations against him instead of seeking the outright dismissal of his case through a demurrer to evidence.
Purisima is also facing several other cases in connection with his alleged unexplained wealth as well as interfering in an anti-terrorist operation that resulted in the death of 44 Special Action Force troopers at the hands of Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels as well as other gunmen in Maguindanao. The operation was hidden from the then acting National Police chief, Leonardo Espina.
In its resolution dated April 8, the anti-graft court said: “The testimonial and documentary evidence presented by the prosecution, unless successfully rebutted by the accused, appear to be prima facie [at first glance] sufficient to support a finding of guilt beyond reasonable doubt.”
Purisima earlier filed a motion for leave of court with the purpose of filing a motion for demurrer for evidence if the former motion is approved.
If Purisima files a motion for demurrer to evidence without an approved motion for a leave a court, he will lose the chance to present counter-evidence should the demurrer is denied.
In his motion for leave of court, Purisima said the Ombudsman failed to prove that he made a “willful and deliberate assertion of a falsehood” in his SALNs.
He said the prosecutors did not even secure copies of his SALNs from the Office of the President, which is the legal custodian of his SALNs before his appointment as PNP chief.
Purisima, however, merely challenged the strength of the prosecution’s evidence without stating the grounds for the court to consider his motion and its attached demurrer, the court’s April 8 resolution said.
The court added: “It must be stressed that the court cannot be compelled to go beyond the motion and examine in detail the discussion and arguments of the accused in the appended demurrer to evidence since leave of court has not yet been granted.”
Associate Justice Lorifel Pahimna wrote the resolution while Associate Justices Oscar Herrera Jr. and Michael Frederick Musngi concurred.
Purisima also faces other graft charges incuding the one involving the death of 44 SAF troopers as well as the alleged anomalous firearms license courier service that was entered into by the PNP in 2011.
However, the case involving the death of the 44 SAF commandos has been held in abeyance owing to a temporary restraining order from the Supreme Court.
In 2014, then Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales placed under preventive suspension Purisima and 10 other officials over allegations that they entered into an anomalous contract for courier services in 2011.
The Ombudsman said probable cause was established to warrant Purisima’s six-month suspension without pay. The order has already been transmitted to the Department of Interior and Local Government for immediate implementation.
But it took almost a year before he was forcibly resigned as PNP chief for the Mamasapano incident.