MANILA, Philippines — The second division of the Sandiganbayan junked Thursday graft cases against Information and Communications Technology Secretary Gregorio Honasan II which stemmed from his alleged misuse of P30 million from his priority development assistance fund (PDAF), also known as pork barrel, when he was a senator in 2012.
The anti-graft court agreed with Honasan that the evidence presented by the prosecution against him was weak and granted the former senator’s demurrer.
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The court also granted demurrers to evidence of National Council on Muslim Affairs (NCMF) officials Galay Makalingan, Mehol Sadain, Auroran Aragon-Mabang, Fedelina Aldanese and Olga Galido.
The Sandiganbayan ordered in August 2017 the arrest of Honasan, along with seven NCMF officials and his political affairs and project coordinator Michael Benjamin, over two counts of graft related to the multi-billion pork barrel scam.
Honasan then denied the charges against him, saying he is “completely innocent.”
Honasan was accused of giving P29.1 million to a questionable non-government organization and the NCMF for the implementation of programs and projects that would benefit Muslim Filipinos in Metro Manila and Zambales.
A probe by the Office of the Ombudsman found that the Department of Budget and Management released P30 million as part of Honasan’s PDAF with the NCMF as the implementing agency in April 2012. — with a report from The STAR/Elizabeth Marcelo