In a 4-1 vote of the Sandiganbayan justices, the anti-graft court granted Villafuertes’ demurer to evidence on his motion that the evidence of the prosecution was weak after its presentation during trial.
The graft charge against Villafuerte’s co-accused — former Rural Health Physician Bernadette Galan Carlos and Medical Officer III Gerardo Nolasco Villafuerte — was dismissed earlier last Feb. 3, also on a demurrer to evidence. But the prosecution, he pointed out, failed to prove overt acts on his part to constitute the crime of graft.
The resolution written by Associate Justice Alex L. Quiroz stated that while witnesses testified that Villafuerte did not conduct public bidding, not one of them attempted to prove the existence of manifest partiality, evident bad faith, or gross inexcusable negligence to constitute violation of the law.
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