SC affirms Sandiganbayan decision to arraign retired AFP general
The Supreme Court (SC) has upheld the Sandiganbayan's April 2006 decision to arraign retired Brig. Gen. Jose Ramiscal Jr., the former head of the Armed Forces of the Philippines-Retirement and Separation Benefits System (AFP-RSBS) who was accused but later cleared of graft. In a decision promulgated on September 15 this year, the SC's Second Division junked Ramiscal's motion to set aside his arraignment at the anti-graft court in February 2006. "We agree with the Sandiganbayan that (Ramiscal's) defenses are evidentiary in nature and are best threshed out in the trial of the case on the merits," said the 15-page decision penned by Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio. "Petitioner (Ramiscal) failed to establish that the Sandiganbayan committed grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction when it denied petitioner's motion to set aside his arraignment," it added. Ramiscal was implicated in the alleged overpricing in the acquisition of a 1.22-hectare property in Batangas 12 years ago. The anti-graft court acquitted him in November 2009. The others who were also acquitted were: