The Sandiganbayan has affirmed its ruling denying Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte’s motion for a leave of court that would have allowed him to contest his case in the event that the anti-graft court junks his demurrer to evidence.
Villafuerte is facing charges in connection with the allegedly questionable procurement of P20 million worth of petroleum products for the provincial government in 2010 when he was still the governor.
In a resolution, the anti-graft court’s Sixth Division said it only made an “initial assessment of the evidence” against Villafuerte, contrary to his claim that the court has prematurely ruled on his criminal liability.
The Sandiganbayan denied the same motion for reconsideration of Villafuerte’s co-accused, Jeffrey Lo.
“The Court did not prematurely rule on their respective demurrers to evidence, but only made an initial assessment of the prosecution’s evidence for the purpose of determining if the accused should be granted leave to file their respective demurrers,” the Sandiganbayan said.
In an earlier statement, Villafuerte said there was no irregularity in the procurement of petroleum products from the provincial government’s long-time supplier.
“The provincial government, long before I was governor, was already procuring gasoline from Petron Naga,” Villafuerte said. “In fact, this company at that time had been supplying fuel to the provincial capitol for about 20 years already.”
With no irregularity involved in the procurement of the provincial government’s fuel requirements in 2010, the Commission on Audit did not issue any Notice of Disallowance as the transactions were deemed legal, Villafuerte added.