黑料社

MANILA, Philippines 鈥� The antigraft court won鈥檛 let Mary Ann Maslog get away this time.

The Sandiganbayan has rejected for the second time the bail petition of Maslog, one of the accused in the 1998 textbook scam case who last year was found to be alive after she faked her death in the last five years to escape prosecution.

In a resolution on Dec. 19, 2024 but released to the public only this week, the Sandiganbayan Second Division said Maslog鈥檚 motion was 鈥渂ereft of merit鈥� and pointed out that her 鈥渉istory of absconding, failure to voluntarily appear before the court and use of spurious identities prove a high probability of flight.鈥�

Besides, it added, the right to bail is 鈥渘ot absolute,鈥� and granting bail based on her circumstances will 鈥渆rode public confidence in the judicial system.鈥�

Past conduct

It also said that her past absences in court proceedings, after she was initially granted bail in 2017, already 鈥渃onstitutes a grave violation of her legal obligations鈥� and that such behavior 鈥渞eveals a calculated pattern of evasion.鈥�

鈥淗er past conduct makes any assurance of her compliance with bail conditions wholly unreliable,鈥� the court added.

Maslog filed another motion for reconsideration on Dec. 12, 2024, six days after the same court turned down her Nov. 25, 2024 鈥淰ery Respectful Urgent Motion to Lift Bench Warrant and/or Post bail.鈥� A bench warrant is issued when a respondent fails to appear in court or to comply with court proceedings and orders.

In her pleading, she argued that any concerns on her being a flight risk 鈥渃an be addressed by imposing stricter bail conditions.鈥�

Maslog was among the accused, along with Emilia Aranas and Ernesto Guiang of the then Department of Education, Culture and Sports (forerunner of the Department of Education), of graft in 1998 for allegedly faking records to secure payments from the Department of Budget and Management.

Case archived

Esteem Enterprises, the supplier of books and supplementary materials, was represented by Maslog.

Aranas and Guiang were both convicted and sentenced to a maximum of prison term of 10 years by the Sandiganbayan in 2020. Maslog鈥檚 case, on the other hand, was archived as she was reported to have died on Nov. 18 of the same year.

But in September last year, Maslog seemed to have risen from the dead when National Bureau of Investigation agents tracked her down in Quezon City, leading to her arrest.

Maslog, however, was being pursued by authorities for another suspected scam鈥攁n investment scheme where she was alleged to have defrauded people of millions of pesos while using another identity.

鈥楧r. Francisco鈥�

Going by the alias 鈥淒r. Jesica Sese Francisco,鈥� Maslog was reported to have befriended one of the complainants, encouraging her to invest in a water system and medical supply project in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. But the checks that Maslog issued to the complainants turned out to be fake.

The NBI also later discovered that Maslog was also the subject of two separate outstanding warrants of arrest in the regional trial courts in the cities of Makati and Para帽aque under the name 鈥淢ary Ann Evans Smith鈥� and 鈥淢ary Ann Tupa-Maslog Smith.鈥�

All of their biometrics matched with Maslog鈥檚 information that she provided in her NBI clearance in 2016.