Former Siquijor governor Orlando Fua Jr. can practice law again after the Supreme Court reversed a Sandiganbayan verdict that found him guilty of obstruction of justice.
The SC itself suspended Fua from practicing law in December 2022 on account of the Sandiganbayan ruling which he appealed before the High Court.
But with the SC acquitting Fua in a decision just made available to the media, the suspension and penalties imposed on him by the High Court last gear and the Sandiganbayan in 2018, respectively, were rescinded.
In the decision written by Associate Justice Henri Jean Paul B. Inting, the SC said the prosecution “miserably failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt” that Fua violated Section 1 (e) of Presidential Decree 1829, the law penalizing obstruction of justice.
Junked by the SC was the Sandiganbayan resolution that directed Fua to pay a fine of P6,000 and ordered his perpetual disqualification from holding any elective or appointive public office.
The case stemmed from an incident close to midnight on 24 November 2010 when Fua allegedly tried to challenge the validity of the search warrant issued against his neighbor and friend James Alaya-ay Largo.
Largo was the target of an earlier drug buy-bust operation undertaken by a team of P/Insp. Reynaldo Valmoria.
While the SC said Fua did not obstruct justice, the High Court still asked him “to be more circumspect in his actions and dealings which may taint the integrity of a public office.”
Valmoria claimed Fua badmouthed him during the serving of the search warrant. Fua denied the policeman’s accusation, saying the latter had an axe to grind against him as a respondent in the fatal shooting of a farmer in San Juan town.
The Sandiganbayan said Fua’s presence in the serving of the search warrant was unnecessary and tended to impede the process.