The Sandiganbayan yesterday dismissed charges against Retired Brig. Gen. Raymundo Jarque and another Army officer of using government resources in spying on former Ombudsman Aniano Desierto and Negrense businessman Magdaleno Peña for personal purposes in violation of the Anti Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

Jarque, former Negros Island Command Chief, told the DAILY STAR it was the last of eight trumped-up cases filed against him through the Ombudsman, which included theft and attempted murder raps, mostly by Peña, that have been dismissed.

Peña's charges had driven Jarque to join the New People's Army in disgust over the justice system in 1995.

The Sandiganbayan First Division in its decision yesterday found Jarque and Capt. Rustico Banawa not guilty of Section 3 of Republic Act 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act) for failure of the prosecution to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

Their bailbonds were cancelled and hold-departure orders dated June 21, 1994 were recalled.

Information filed before the Sandiganbayan said from Jan. 1, 1993, to March 31, 1993, Jarque who was then commanding general of the National Capital Region Defense Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines together with Capt. Mayoralgo de la Cruz and Banawa "utilized government resources, such as manpower, vehicles, time, firearms and others in conducting surveillance activities" on Peña, a private law practitioner, and Desierto for "purely personal reasons".

The complaint said the three acted with evident bad faith and grave abuse of their official positions in order to cause harm and injury to Desierto to the damage and detriment of the government and to the then ombudsman and Peña.

Jarque said the charges against de la Cruz had been dismissed by the Sandiganbayan earlier, after it found that the evidence against him was weak.

The Sandiganbayan, in its decision finding Jarque and Banawa not guilty, said "the prosecution has evidently not shown with moral certainty that the accused committed the offense charged in the information."

The presumption of innocence in favor of the accused has not been rebutted by the prosecution hence they are entitled to exoneration, the Sandiganbayan added.

The decision was penned by Associate Justice Diosdado Peralta and concurred in by Presiding Justice Teresita Leonardo-de Castro and Efren de la Cruz.

Jarque said his lawyers were Romeo Capulong, Glenn Manahan and Ritchel Pastores.

He said he is mulling the filing of a countersuit against Peña for all that he put him through.

The dismissal of the last case against me is heaven-sent in the light of our recent harrowing experience in the United States, he said.

Jarque and his wife, Xenia, were detained on their arrival at the Dallas Fortworth International Airport in Dallas Tuesday last week because the US immigration officials said he was a member of the National Democratic Front, which is on its list of terrorist groups.

Jarque, however, explained that he was no longer a member of the rebel movement and was only serving as a peace consultant of the NDF. He opted to return to the Philippines the next day rather than remain in jail.

He has filed a protest before the Department of Foreign Affairs, and Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs chair, is set to conduct a hearing on Jarque's treatment in the US Thursday.

"This is not a personal case, it is necessary to act on this so ordinary citizens will not be treated in the manner that I was in the future because of inaccurate US intelligence information," he said.

"It is unfair for people who spend large amounts of money for their fare to visit relatives in the United States to be turned back, based on wrong information," he said.*CPG

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