CEBU Third District Representative Gwendolyn Garcia said her lawyers are studying the legal options available to them following the Sandiganbayan's decision denying her motion to dismiss the graft and technical malversation cases filed against her.
"The Sandiganbayan denied our motion to dismiss on grounds of inordinate delay our right to speedy trial. This case has dragged on for over six years now. This is not about the merits of the case yet...given this denial to our motion to dismiss, my lawyers are studying the legal options available to us," Garcia said, in a text message to SunStar Cebu.
The two graft and one technical malversation case stemmed from the allegedly irregular purchase of the Balili Property in Barangay Tina-an, City of Naga when she was governor in 2008.
In an ABS-CBN news report, the Sandiganbayan Special 2nd Division affirmed Garcia’s cases in which she is charged for the purchase of 10 parcels of land classified as coastal timberland, in which most part of it is submerged in seawater.
In her motion to dismiss filed before the court, Garcia said her right to speedy disposition of cases was violated as the cases have been ongoing for seven years now.
The court however noted the “conspicuous absence” of nine motions that Garcia’s lawyers filed before and after her arraignment.
“If there is delay, the same may be reasonably attributed to the ordinary processes of justice. By filing these series of motions and motions for reconsideration from an adverse resolution, accused Garcia should have reasonable expectation that the proceedings would naturally elongate for due process requires that the other side be given time to respond and the court would similarly consume time to study the submissions before it,” the court said in its promulgation last Monday, November 19. (JKV)