Fecal matter

By RAMPADOR ALINDOG

**

TROUBLE looms in the horizon for actor-turned-senator Lito Lapid.

No, there are no bad guys carrying heavy firearms involved.

Only dung – tons of it.

The Supreme Court has reversed the Sandigan­bayan decision dismissing the graft charges against the Kapampangan stunt­man, in connection with his alleged involvement in the P728-million fertilizer fund scam of 2004.

The high court also or­dered the Sandiganbayan to resume hearing the case at once.

“The resolutions insofar as it dismissed the crimi­nal case against respon­dents Manuel Lapid, M. Victoria Aquino-Abuba­kar, Leolita Aquino and Dexter Alexander S.D Vasquez are reversed and set aside. San­diganbayan is directed to resolve the criminal case with reasonable dis­patch,” said the resolution penned by Associate Justice Jose Reyes Jr., with the con­currence of retired jus­tice An­tonio Car­pio and Associ­ate Justices Amy Lazaro-Javier and Rodil Zalameda.

In its original information, The Office of the Ombuds­man said that back when he was Pampanga governor in 2004, Lapid approved the purchase of 3,880 bottles of fertilizers amounting to some P4.761 million, at P1,250 per liter.

Lapid supposedly ap­proved the purchase sans bidding and despite another prospective supplier offer­ing the same at a much lower price of P150 per liter.

But the case was eventually dis­missed in 2016, due to “inordinate delay.”

It could’ve played like a movie, with Lapid heroically riding off in the sun­set.

Ah, but this is real life.

In overturning the case, the Supreme Court applied its new computation for deciding what constitutes inordinate delay.

“The Court finds that the Sandiganbayan gravely abused its discretion when it dismissed the criminal case against Lapid et al sup­posedly due to inordinate delay,” said the ruling.

“Delay becomes inordi­nate only in the presence of arbitrary, vexatious, and oppressive actions or inactions that are discernible from the proceed­ings. No such delay attended the Ombudsman’s proceedings that would warrant the dismissal of the criminal case against herein respondents.”