Cynthia Moreno, petitioner, Vs. Sandiganbayan, respondent

GR. No. 256070, September 19, 2022

Cynthia Moreno is a former mayor of Aloguinsan, Cebu. On June 5, 2014, she was found guilty of violation of Section 3(e) of RA 3019, and was sentenced to suffer the indeterminate penalty of six (6) years and one (1) month, as minimum, to ten (10) years, as maximum, with perpetual disqualification from holding public office.

Petitioner and her co accused filed a joint Motion for Reconsideration, but this was denied by the Sandiganbayan for lack of merit. Thereafter, the petitioner filed the Motion praying that she be allowed to serve her sentence under home care or house arrest, under the direct and close monitoring and supervision of the local BJMP officers.

In the Resolution, however, the Sandiganbayan denied petitioner's Motion for failure to provide evidence, i.e., medical records or physician's report, to show that she is suffering from such health conditions that thwarted her movement and usual way of living. The Sandiganbayan likewise noted that "home care/house arrest" does not appear in the Rules of Criminal Procedure and that there is no law providing for an alternative mode of confinement based on health considerations for prisoners convicted by final judgment; hence, petitioner should serve her sentence only in the places provided for by law in accordance with Articles 78 and 86 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC).

Issue: Whether or not the Sandiganbayan acted with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction in denying petitioner's Motion?

Held:  The Court finds that petitioner's Motion is an unmeritorious motion which was correctly dismissed outright by the Sandiganbayan pursuant to the last paragraph of Section 2(c), Part III of the Continuous Trial Guidelines.

(c) Meritorious Motions. — Motions that allege plausible grounds supported by relevant documents and/or competent evidence, except those that are already covered by the Revised Guidelines, are meritorious motions.

Motions that do not conform to the above requirements shall be considered unmeritorious and shall be denied outright.

As aptly found by the Sandiganbayan, petitioner's Motion was not supported by-relevant documents, i.e., medical record or physician's report. Notably, the documents attached by petitioner in her Motion, i.e., the various awards she received, etc., are irrelevant to the ground she cited as basis for her "home care/house arrest," that is, her poor health condition. Thus, the Sandiganbayan correctly denied the Motion outright in the Resolution without setting it for hearing.

In view of the foregoing, the Court finds that there was nothing capricious, whimsical, or even arbitrary in the Sandiganbayan's denial of petitioner's Motion.

WHEREFORE, the petition is hereby DISMISSED.