Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 21) — The Sandiganbayan will not allow former Maguindanao governor Datu Sajid Islam Ampatuan to appeal his guilty verdict over the bogus purchase of food supplies worth ₱16.32 million in 2009.
In a resolution promulgated on July 19, the anti-graft court’s Fifth Division denied and marked as “merely noted” the motion for reconsideration filed by Ampatuan.
The court said Ampatuan had lost his standing in court when he failed to appear in the handing down of the verdict back in May \”without justifiable cause.\”
“The court holds that the failure of the accused to regain his standing in court rendered the judgment of conviction against him final and immutable,” the court said in a five-page resolution.
Before filing his motion for reconsideration, Ampatuan had asked the court to allow him to avail of post-conviction remedies.
