Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 30) — Ten days before he was assassinated, Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo was cleared of 11 counts of graft and falsification of documents by the Supreme Court (SC) on the ground of double jeopardy.
The case stemmed from a ₱961.5 million worth of Special Allotment and Release Order for rehabilitation after the province was hit by Typhoon Sendong in December 2011.
Degamo was accused of conspiring with the individual contractors to whom the projects were awarded.
He had been acquitted by the Sandiganbayan’s Third Division – ruling that they acted in good faith, and there was no “manifest partiality or gross inexcusable negligence on their part.”
The slain governor faced similar charges before the anti-graft court’s second division.
The rule on double jeopardy states that “when a person is charged with an offense and the case is terminated either by acquittal or conviction or in any manner without the consent of the accused, the latter cannot again be charged with the same or identical offense.”
Degamo and some of his constituents were shot and killed inside his compound on March 4. Case investigation and the hunt for the mastermind continue.
