THE Supreme Court absolved former Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio in the estafa case against him before the Sandiganbayan.
In a decision, the SC ordered the dismissal of the case against Villa-Ignacio, a former official of Office of the Ombudsman, in connection with the alleged anomaly in the use of charity funds meant for victims of Typhoon “Milenyo” in 2004.
The tribunal ruled held that the Ombudsman committed grave abuse of discretion for failure to follow their own rules, which provide that the chairman and vice chairman of the Internal Affairs Board shall be automatically disqualified from acting on any proceeding if he belongs to the same component as any of the parties to the case.
The high court also scolded the anti-graft body for changing the rule in the middle of the proceedings.
The case stemmed from the complaint by an assistant special prosecutor who contributed P26,000 in a 2004 charity drive for victims of Typhoon “Milenyo” through Gawad Kalinga.
The complainant accused Villa-Ignacio of using the money for a different purpose, particularly for construction of water pipes in areas damaged by “Milenyo.”