Simon Fernan Jr.

v.
People of the Philippines
G.R No. 145927, August 24, 2007
Second Division, Velasco Jr, J:

FACTS:

The instant petition under Rule 45 originated from 119 criminal cases filed with the
Sandiganbayan (SB) involving no less than 36 former officials and employees of the then
Ministry of Public Highways (MPH) and several suppliers of construction materials for
defalcation of public funds arising from numerous transactions in the Cebu First Highway
Engineering District in 1977. Because of the sheer magnitude of the illegal transactions, the
number of people involved, and the ingenious scheme employed in defrauding the government,
this infamous 86 million highway scam has few parallels in the annals of crime in the country.
 
The nuclei of this massive conspiracy, namely: Rolando Mangubat, Jose Sayson, and
Edgardo Cruz, all of MPH Region VII, were found guilty in all 119 counts and were accordingly
sentenced by the SB. The other conniver, Delia Preagido, after being found guilty in some of the
cases, became a state witness in the remainder.On the basis of her testimony and pertinent
documents, Informations were filed, convictions were obtained, and criminal penalties were
imposed on the rest of the accused.

ISSUE:
Whether or not the petitioners acted on conspiracy

HELD:
The burden of proving the allegation of conspiracy falls to the shoulders of the
prosecution. Considering, however, the difficulty in establishing the existence of conspiracy,
settled jurisprudence finds no need to prove it by direct evidence.
In Estrada v. Sandiganbayan, there are two (2) structures of multiple conspiracies,
namely: (1) the so-called wheel or circle conspiracy, in which there is a single person or group
(the hub) dealing individually with two or more other persons or groups (the spokes); and (2) the
chain conspiracy, usually involving the distribution of narcotics or other contraband, in which
there is successive communication and cooperation in much the same way as with legitimate
business operations between manufacturer and wholesaler, then wholesaler and retailer, and then
retailer and consumer.
The conspiracy in the instant cases resembles the wheel conspiracy. The 36 disparate
persons who constituted the massive conspiracy to defraud the government were controlled by a
single hub, namely: Rolando Mangubat (Chief Accountant), Delia Preagido (Accountant III),
Jose Sayson (Budget Examiner), and Edgardo Cruz (Clerk II), who controlled the separate
spokes of the conspiracy. Petitioners were among the many spokes of the wheel.