MANILA — The Sandiganbayan has denied the plea of former Rodriguez, Rizal Mayor Pedro Cuerpo seeking to include in his jail sentence his period of confinement at the Philippine Heart Center (PHC).
Voting 4-1, the Sandiganbayan Special 2nd Division denied the appeal of the former mayor and instead ordered the PHC to submit the medical report pertaining to Cuerpo once it receives the document from the anti-graft court.
The anti-graft court gave PHC 10 days to submit its medical report.
“He is free to leave the PHC if his confinement is no longer needed,” the Sandiganbayan said in its resolution, signed by Special 2nd Division Chairman Associate Justice Oscar Herrera, Jr., and Associate Justices Lorifel Pahimna, Sarah Jane Fernandez and Reynaldo Cruz, dated last August 31.
In 2012, the Sandiganbayan sentenced Cuerpo to a six-month jail term for his failure to comply with the order of the court to supervise the building permit application of Samahang Magkakapitbisig, a non-governmental organization.
Cuerpo’s sentence was not immediately implemented after he was rushed by National Bureau of Investigation agents to the PHC in 2017 because of his health condition. (Perfecto Raymundo, Jr./PNA)
