MANILA, Philippines - The Sandiganbayan has issued an arrest warrant against Presidential Adviser for Environmental Protection Nereus "Neric" Acosta and his mother in connection with the case of perjury filed by the Office of the Ombudsman last year.
The warrant of arrest was issued against Acosta and her mother, Soccoro, by the appellate court's Firth Division chaired by Associate Justice Rolando Honrado.
The Office of the Ombudsman filed the perjury case against Acosta and his mother in November of last year.
The case stemmed from Acosta's alleged irregular use of his pork barrel while he was sitting as representative of Bukidnon province in the House of Representatives.
The Ombudsman said in the information it filed at the Ombudsman that the former congressman illegally channeled P5.5 million from his Priority Development Assistance Fund to the Bukidnon Vegetable Producers Cooperative (BVPC), a private group controlled by the former congressman's family.
It said that Acosta "“deliberately, willfully, unlawfully and feloniously executed his counteraffidavit, sworn to before a notary public, stating and swearing that such channeling was concurred in by the Sangguniang Bayan of Manolo Fortich, which was false..."