Former Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Arthur Yap is no longer a co-accused in the pork barrel scam that hounds Former Nueva Ecija Representative Rodolfo Antonino.
The Sandiganbayan has granted Yap's motion that sought to remove him as among the respondents to the charge.
Yap had told the anti-graft court that the Ombudsman committed too much delay in its investigation of the complaint.
He claimed he had been deprived of his constitutional right to speedy disposition of cases.
He said government prosecutors took more than 7 years to conduct the fact-finding investigations.
In its decision, the Sandiganbayan's Special 6th Division ruled that the Ombudsman should have moved with reasonable dispatch.
Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Michael Musngi wrote the verdict.
Yap was linked to Antonino's alleged misuse of Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) worth P 14.55 million in 2007.