Judiciary finds Laqui not guilty, drops all charges

During a court hearing held on November 11, the University Student Government (USG) Judiciary found former EXCEL2015 Batch President and current Executive Treasurer Zed Laqui not guilty on the grounds of gross negligence of duty.

A preliminary hearing for the case filed by undergraduate student Norben Sagun Jr. against Laqui was held last October 28 on the grounds of illegal disbursements of funds and gross negligence of duty, with the former dropped by the court as it was found to be without merit.

In last night’s hearing, the defense pleaded not guilty.

Prosecution: Laqui was more than a contact person

In the opening statements of the prosecution, it was argued that Laqui, in his capacity as contact person for the controversial Lasallian Scholarship Exchange Grant (LESG), relayed inaccurate information to Sagun.

In Sagun’s complaint letter, he shared a conversation between him and Laqui where the former had asked the latter about the remaining half of the cash prize he had been granted as a winner of LESG. Allegedly, Laqui had responded that the money was already being processed. However, the prosecution argued that in their investigation, no cash transactions for LESG were processed through the accounting office, according to Office of Student Leadership Involvement, Formation and Empowerment Director Nelca Villarin.

The prosecution also argued that Laqui should have had correct knowledge regarding the money. The prosecution contended that Laqui was “more than just a contact person” and should have been aware of the status on the disbursement of funds for the prize.

Among other arguments and evidences the prosecution raised include the online conversations between Laqui and Sagun. According to the prosecution, the fact that Laqui had consulted with the finance department through Laurel shows that he shared a certain extent of responsibility in the financial matters of the LESG, an allegation the defense had denied since the pre-hearing.

The defense on LESG/LSP and the non-involvement of EXCEL2015

On the other hand, Laqui’s counsel emphasized that Laqui was merely a contact person in the project, after being asked by former Executive Treasurer Rupert Laurel because of the former’s knowledge in scholarship grants from his experience as chairperson for the Lasallian Scholar Program (LSP). The defense maintained that no Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was signed between Laqui and Laurel, and argued that LSP and LESG were completely different projects altogether.

In addition, the defendant’s counsel explained that any acts committed by Laqui were duly within his role. It was argued that Laqui, a contact person, could not be held liable in the processing of funds of the said project.

Furthermore, the counsel asserted that Laqui was not acting in his capacity as batch president nor as the LSP chairman in fulfilling the role as the contact person of the LESG. During the time of the project’s implementation, Laqui was serving as the batch president of EXCEL2015. There were no formal documents specifying a tie up between the EXCEL2015 batch government and LESG, argued the defense. “Laqui’s simple role is to relay information from Rupert,” according to the defense.

“Zed acted within his full responsibility and within the [constitutional] mandate and what Rupert asked him to do as contact person,” concluded the defense.

After a judicial review of the arguments and evidences presented by both sides, the Magistrates found Laqui not guilty of gross negligence of duty.

The Judiciary will release the court opinion for Laqui’s case not later than November 11. The deadline for submission of appeals is also on the said date.