 |
| Photo credit to owner |
Metro Manila — Sen. Gringo Honasan is facing graft charges in connection with the alleged anomalous use of his P30 million Priority Development Assistance Funds (PDAF) in 2012.
The senator failed to post bail on his graft charges, as the Sandiganbayan Division 2 closed at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday.
The Sandiganbayan earlier issued the Senator a warrant of arrest over the alleged misuse of his P29.1-million Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel in 2012.
Eight others were ordered arrested with the senator, also for their alleged involvement in the PDAF scam.
This follows the Office of the Ombudsman's filing of the case against the senator and his co-accused on August 1.
Honasan may post bail once arrested.
Sandiganbayan sheriff Albert Dela Cruz said the arrest warrant has been forwarded to law enforcement agencies.
Honasan, however, denied the allegations, saying he is "completely innocent of the charges" against him.
"All my life I have fought everything I am accused of, and I will continue to do so," he said in a statement Thursday.
Honasan is facing two counts of graft for violating Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, for "giving any private party any unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference in the discharge of his official administrative or judicial functions through manifest partiality, evident bad faith or gross inexcusable negligence."
If found guilty, Honasan may face imprisonment of up to 10 years and perpetual disqualification from public office.
Honasan's PDAF was meant to finance livelihood projects for Muslim communities in Metro Manila and Zambales province, with the National Council of Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) as implementing agency.
The Ombudsman said Honasan did not submit a counter-affidavit during its investigation.
The Supreme Court ruled as unconstitutional the PDAF or pork barrel in 2013, following a multibillion-peso scam where businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles allegedly funneled funds to fake NGOs.
A number of lawmakers were tagged as beneficiaries of the scam, including Senators Bong Revilla, Jinggoy Estrada, and Juan Ponce Enrile. Revilla and Estrada are detained while the Supreme Court allowed Enrile to post bail because of his old age and frail health.
Comment your thoughts, hit Like and Share the article. Thank you!
Source: CNNPhilippines
0 comments: