THE Court of Appeals has affirmed the resolution issued by the Department of Justice (DOJ) dismissing the theft charges against 14 officers of the National Press Club (NPC) in connection with the sale of the controversial Vicente Manansala mural to the Heritage Art Gallery in the amount of P10 million.

In a 14-page resolution written by Associate Justice Priscilla Baltazar-Padilla, the CA’s Thirteenth Division held that former acting Justice Secretary Alberto Agra did not err in issuing the resolution on June 11, 2010, withdrawing his earlier resolution which ordered the indictment of the journalists before the trial court for the supposed “theft and illegal sale” of the painting.

Cleared of criminal liabilities were NPC officials Roy Mabasa, Benny Antiporda, Louie Logarta, Amor Virata, Jun Cobarrubias, Jerry Yap, Alvin Feliciano, Joey Venancio, William Depasupil, Dennis Fetalino, Joel Sy Egco, Conrado Generoso, Rolly Gonzalo and Samuel Julian.

“The existence of the second element of qualified theft as… being doubtful, the [then] Acting Justice Secretary [Agra] cannot be faulted for reversing his earlier resolution,” the resolution stated.

The appellate court junked the petition for review filed by the Government Service and Insurance System (GSIS) which claims ownership of the mural.

The NPC anchored its right over the said mural through a Letter of Instructions 500 issued by the late President Ferdinand Marcs in 1977 ordering the state pension firm to donate the said mural to NPC.                

In 2006, the NPC under its then president Roy Mabasa decided to sell the mural for the amount of P10 million.

In its ruling, the CA stated that even if it concedes that the GSIS owns the lot and the NPC building, “such ownership does not include the mural.”