Graft court won’t act on Co plea since he’s still a fugitive
As long as he is a fugitive from justice, all pleadings filed by former Ako Bicol Rep. Elizaldy Co in relation to his criminal cases arising from the flood control corruption scandal will not be entertained.
Thus ruled by the Sandiganbayan antigraft court as it affirmed the cancellation of Co’s passport and rejected his lawyer’s contention that his right to due process was violated.
In a resolution issued on Jan. 8, the court’s Fifth Division stressed that Co, who had been out of the country since middle of last year and believed to be currently in Portugal, “remains beyond the reach of the court.”
He was therefore not entitled to formally challenge court actions, such as the cancellation of his passport which was requested by the Office of the Ombudsman, the resolution added.
“In view of his status as a fugitive from justice, …the court was unable to entertain accused Co’s pleadings and defenses and applied the ‘fugitive disentitlement doctrine,’” read the resolution penned by Associate Justice Zaldy Trespeses, the division chair, with members Associate Justices Gener Gito and Kevin Narce Vivero concurring.
The court said the doctrine rests on the “settled principle” that the accused cannot simultaneously evade legal authority while seeking the protection of that same authority, in this case the Sandiganbayan.
The fugitive disentitlement doctrine originated in the United States during the 19th century and had been an “equitable principle of criminal appellate procedure,” the court said, citing the Vallacar ruling of the Supreme Court.
The Vallacar ruling was issued on Nov. 28 last year and took effect after the antigraft court had canceled Co’s passport and declared him fugitive.
The Sandiganbayan explained that it continued to act on and considered the submissions filed on behalf of Co since these were filed before the Supreme Court adopted the fugitive doctrine.
“Thus, the court maintains that accused Co lacks the requisite legal standing to invoke the court’s processes as long as he remains a fugitive,” it also said.
‘Deliberate delay’
Co earlier filed a motion through counsel Ruy Rondain saying the former lawmaker was “surprised” when the court approved the passport cancellation “without affording him the opportunity to comment on or oppose the same.”
Referencing the motion, the Sandiganbayan resolution said: “He contends the court was misled into believing that he did not file a comment or opposition. The truth is that he was unable to do so because of the prosecution’s deliberate delay in providing him with a copy of the motion to make it look [like] that he did not file any comment.”
Co and 15 other accused—composed mostly of mid-level public works officials and private contractors—face charges of graft and malversation of public funds in three Sandiganbayan divisions.
The Ombudsman had them indicted for committing “serious irregularities” in connection with a P289.5-million river dike in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro, a project awarded to a company being linked to Co.
