Sandiganbayan has issued an arrest warrant on Thursday to Senator Gringo Honasan and eight others after involvement in the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam on 2013.
Honasan is facing two counts of graft after authorizing the use of P29.1 million pork barrel to a non-government organization in two tranches without following procurement rules in 2012.
The Court found sufficient probable cause against Honasan that violate 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.”
He is the 4th senator to be charged in court over the pork barrel scam, although the 3 others involved in the pork barrel scam are facing plunder charges.
Photo Credit: Adrian Ayalin Twitter Account
Eight others that were included in the arrest warrant are chief Michael Benjamin; NCMF Secretary Mehol Sadain; NCMF officials Fedelina Aldanese, Galay Makalinggan, Aurora Aragon-Mabang, and Olga Galido; and Focus Development Goals Foundation Inc. officers Giovannie Manuel Gaerlan and Salvador Gaerlan.
The charges filed against Honasan are bailable at P30,000 per count. Moreover, up to 10 years imprisonment and perpetual disqualification from public office will be faced by Honasan if proven guilty.
The senator is expected to post his P60,000 bail – P30,000 per count – within the day.
Honasan said in a statement that he is innocent of the charges filed against him.“All my life I have fought everything I am accused of, and I will continue to do so,” Honasan posted in his official Twitter account.
