3 weeks ago
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THE Regional Trial Court Branch 141 in Cainta, Rizal has denied the motions to quash the graft charges against two former directors of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and a British businessman involved in the alleged anomalous P2-billion vessel monitoring system (VMS) project in 2018.
In a six-page resolution dated Feb. 7, 2025, Presiding Judge Don Ace Mariano Alagar of the Cainta RTC ruled that the court found no legal basis for the dismissal of graft charges against BFAR national directors Eduardo Gongona and Demosthenes Escoto, and UK-based SRT Marine Systems CEO Simon Tucker.
The three were accused of graft charges — two counts under Section 3(e) and one count each under Sections 3(g) and 3(j) of Republic Act 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act).
The court ruled that the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB), which filed the cases, did not commit inordinate delay in its investigation and rejected the claim of the two former BFAR chiefs that their right to a speedy disposition of cases was violated.
With the denial of their motions, the duo's arraignment and pre-trial were set for Feb. 26, allowing the prosecution to present evidence on the alleged irregular awarding of the VMS contract.
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In seeking to quash the charges, Gongona and Escoto argued that the Ombudsman took nearly three years to file the case — beyond the two-year limit for complex cases set under OMB Administrative Order (AO) 1 of 2020.
However, the court ruled that "no inordinate delay in the conduct of the preliminary investigation can be ascribed to the OMB."
"As the case was complex and involved voluminous records, the OMB completed the preliminary investigation, including resolutions on the motions for reconsideration, within 24 months as provided in OMB AO No. 1 of 2020," the court stated.
"Suffice it to say there is no violation of accused movants' right to speedy disposition of their cases," it added.
The Cainta RTC also found no indication that the complaint was politically motivated or maliciously prosecuted.
"There is no allegation in the pleadings of accused movants before the OMB and their motions to quash that the prosecution of this case was politically motivated or prosecuted for malice or both," the ruling stated.
The court further noted that Gongona and Escoto failed to assert their right to a speedy disposition in a timely manner.
"They must file the appropriate motion upon the lapse of the statutory or procedural periods. Otherwise, they are deemed to have waived their right to speedy disposition of the case," it ruled.
The cases stemmed from allegations that Gongona, Escoto, and Tucker conspired in 2018 to award a P2.09-billion VMS contract to SRT-UK, despite the company's prior disqualification from a French-funded bidding process.
The original project, backed by a P1.6-billion French government loan, required bidders to be French or in a joint venture with a French firm.
However, the French Ministry of Finance later disqualified SRT-France, a subsidiary of SRT-UK, citing British ownership and lack of operational facilities in France.
Rather than rebidding the project, Philippine officials restructured the deal, secured local funding, and expanded the contract to P2.09 billion, prosecutors said.
The revised contract compelled the government to procure 5,000 vessel tracking devices, up from the originally planned 3,736 units, increasing costs and government obligations.
The Ombudsman ruled in February 2024 that the three accused "orchestrated a series of questionable events" to ensure that SRT-UK secure the contract under highly favorable terms, while the Philippine government bore the financial burden.
Gongona and Escoto — who posted bail of P360,000 each in January — will now proceed to trial alongside Tucker, who has yet to surrender to authorities.
Judge Alagar ordered Tucker to appear before the court and post bail ahead of the Feb. 26 arraignment and pre-trial proceedings.
Escoto, who was dismissed from government service after a separate Ombudsman ruling found him guilty of grave misconduct, also faces contempt of court charges for enforcing a fisheries tracking order that had been ruled unconstitutional.
