Don’t give in! Ombudsman asks Sandiganbayan: Don’t dismiss raps vs. Andaya over Malampaya scam

By James Hernandez

The Sandiganbayan 3rd Division has been asked to remain firm in its decision not to dismiss the charges against Camarines Sur 1st District Representative Rolandaya Andaya Jr. concerning his involvement in the P900- million Malampaya fund scam.

“It can be made clear how accused Andaya’s acts form part and parcel of the criminal conspiracy and how these acts were essential to its execution,” read the opposition of the Office of the Ombudsman against the Andaya’s motion for reconsideration.

“Verily, all the matters being raised by accused Andaya in his motion, apart from being rehashed, are all matters of defense,” it pointed out.

Andaya’s motion for reconsideration sought to overturn the anti-graft court’s resolution which junked his appeal to dismiss the 97 counts of graft and 97 counts of malversation filed against him.

The court ruled that the arguments of the parties “should all be heard by the court at an opportune time, or at the time which they are required to submit their respective pieces of evidence.”

Under the charges, he and his co-defendants are accused of having illegally diverted P900 million from the Malampaya fund allocated by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) between 2009 to 2010.

At that time, Andaya was budget secretary.

The defendants allegedly used non-government organizations (NGOs) under alleged pork barrel scam brains Janet Lim Napoles as conduits.

The funds were meant to be used for relief operations, rehabilitation, and reconstruction of areas affected by typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng.