Sandiganbayan upholds corruption case of former Disini co-accused

MANILA, Philippines – The Sandiganbayan has upheld the corruption case against Dominico Borja, a former executive of the Herdis Management and Investment Corporation involved in an illegal transaction with the late former dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos.

In a resolution dated July 26 penned by Associate Justice Michael Frederick Musngi, the Sandiganbayan overruled Borja’s claim that the case should have been dismissed outright on the ground of prescription, as well as inordinate delay from the Office of the Ombudsman.

The case stems from 2013, when the Office of the Ombudsman alleged that the Herdis executives induced Marcos to accept 4 billion shares of The Energy Corporation (TEC), and 2.5 billion shares of Vulcan Industrial and Mining Corporation (VIMC) in March 1982, even if they knew that the Philippine president was barred by law from having financial interests in these firms.

Borja’s co-defendents were the late businessman Herminio Disini, his cousin Jesus Disini, and Herdis officers Angelo Manahan, Jerry Orlina, and Alfredo Velayo.

Herminio Disini died in 2014, while the case against Jesus Disini was dismissed because of an immunity agreement with the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), where he cooperated with the government probe into irregularities surrounding the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant deal with US contractors.

The Sandiganbayan ordered the case archived in 2019, but still issued alias arrest warrants against the remaining defendants. It only acquired jurisdiction over Borja in May 2024, after he was arrested.

Borja argued that the case remained active four decades later. He said that the passage of time deprived him of the chance of defending himself, since potential witnesses and documents pertaining to the questioned transaction may no longer be located.

The prosecution countered that the government only became aware of the crime in 1986 – after the EDSA People Power Revolution. A letter from Herminio Disini to Marcos, dated March 11, 1982, was found in Malacañang. It revolved around the turnover of TEC shares worth P40 million, and VIMC shares worth P25 million.

The PCGG filed the complaint in 1993 with the Ombudsman. The latter dismissed the case in 1997, but the Supreme Court later reversed it.

In denying Borja’s motion, the Sandiganbayan said that the “blameless ignorance rule” must be applied, which meant that the prescription period could not run because the state had no way of being aware, as the parties kept the transaction a secret.

The prescriptive period only commenced in 1986 upon the discovery of the letter, the anti-graft court held.

Meanwhile, on the claim of inordinate delay, the court said that Borja remained at large from the time the case was filed in 2013 until his arrest in 2024.

“He was not able to prove in his motion that any delay in the preliminary investigation was motivated by malice, that he was prejudiced by the same, or that he did not contribute to the delay. Thus, there is no cogent reason to grant accused Borja’s Omnibus Motion,” the Sandiganbayan said. – Rappler.com