Friday, August 15, 2008 No more 'delay tactics' for Teddy
THE criminal case over the so-called lamppost controversy is showing a reversal of roles, at least for Thadeo Ouano, with his defense lawyer now egging the prosecution to start the ball rolling.
Manila-based lawyer Dennis Añover, counsel for the former Mandaue City mayor, said they will oppose all moves to delay the prosecution of the case—be it the motion to withdraw information the prosecution filed recently or moves to delay the arraignment.
“(Mayor Ouano) has already been suspended and gone through a lot of embarrassment. His son even lost the (last) elections. This has caused the family a lot of anxiety already,” Añover yesterday told Sun.Star Cebu.
Añover said the anti-graft office’s move to withdraw the information is an open admission that their evidence was weak when they went to court with the indictment.
Singled out
But while they are now trying to salvage what could be saved, damage to Ouano, who Añover said feels being singled out by the media, has already been done.
“We have always been consistent. When the case was filed before the Sandiganbayan, we did not participate with those who filed a motion for reconsideration or appealed before the Court of Appeals. We wanted to present our evidence immediately,” Añover said.
“We were always confident that the case would be dismissed because our client is innocent,” he added.
For his part, businessman Crisologo Saavedra is now supporting the anti-graft office’s decision to withdraw the case.
Added proof
He said the incorporation of added evidence — particularly the Commission on Audit’s report on the transaction — is going to make the case stronger.
Ouano faces two charges of alleged anti-graft law violations in two Sandiganbayan divisions over his alleged participation in the supposedly overpriced purchase of decorative lampposts and streetlamps used during the Asean Summit last year.
Based on the anti-graft office’s investigation, it was Ouano who caused the preparation of the program of works and estimates that was used as basis to set the contract price.
In both charges, he is impleaded with officials from the Department of Public Works and Highways, headed by ex-director Roberto Lala, and people at the Mandaue City Engineer’s Office.
Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Arturo Radaza is facing similar raps before another Sandiganbayan division.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor, headed by Assistant Ombudsman Robert Kallos, recently asked the justices of the Sandiganbayan’s fourth division to allow them to withdraw the information against Ouano and his co-accused to facilitate a reinvestigation.
At the second division, Kallos and his lawyers moved for a deferment of the arraignment because the other parties either have pending motions for reconsideration with the Ombudsman or have pending petitions for certiorari before the appellate court.
Defense lawyers believe the ombudsman will move for the withdrawal of all charges before all the Sandiganbayan divisions to facilitate a wide re-investigation. (KNR)
