THE disposal cases of the Sandiganbayan went up tremendously by 74 percent in 2011 as compared to 2010.

Based on the Judicial Records Division, the Sandiganbayan five divisions were able to  dispose of a total of 430 cases in 2011 from 247 in 2010.

The records section reported that the Second Division posted the best case disposal rate with 138 cases, followed by the Fifth Division with 97 cases; Third Division with 88 cases; First Division, 76 and Fourth Division, 31.

Despite the increased disposal cases, the anti-graft court  still has a backlog of 2,228 case in 2011 as against 2,158 cases at the end of 2010.

The Office of the Ombudsman has a total of 482 cases filed before the Sandiganbayan, as compared to 297 cases in 2010.

A total of 18 cases were also revived during the year.

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales has not filed as many cases as her predecessor, resigned Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez and acting Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro.

Morales only filed 29 cases from September to December 2011 after assuming the post in August.

The 430 cases disposed of last year involved 503 defendants of whom 77 were convicted of various crimes while four pleaded guilty for a conviction rate of 16.1 percent.

The court acquitted 211 accused public officials; dismissed 134 cases for various reasons including insufficiency of evidence or lack of basis; ordered 31 cases archived and one case returned to the Office of the Special Prosecutor for re-evaluation.

The Sandiganbayan has  exclusive jurisdiction over cases involving high-ranking public officials.