THE SUPREME Court (SC) has allowed a construction magnate convicted by the Sandiganbayan for graft to travel to Europe, saying “he does not appear to be a flight risk”.
Jesusito Legaspi and 12 former executives of the Public Estates Authority were sentenced to up to eight years in prison in 2015 for padding the cost of a 2.3-kilometer (km) section of the 5.1-km asphalt road project, the President Diosdado Macapagal Highway that traverses Pasay and Parañaque cities.
The case is on appeal.
In a recent resolution, the SC First Division authorized Legaspi's motion to travel from December 12 to January 16 next year.
A similar request filed by Legaspi in August was also granted for travel to the United States from August 18 to September 22 but the trip did not push through as the visa of one of Legaspi’s children was not renewed.
Like in the previous grant of authority, the SC said Legaspi “does not appear to be a flight risk, considering that he continues to actively participate in the defense of his case and that there was no reason for him not to return to the country where his family and his substantial business interests are located". (Benjamin Pulta)
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