Dy: Hands off in Padaca graft case

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines – “We have nothing to do with what is happening to the former governor.”

Thus said Isabela Gov. Faustino Dy III yesterday, referring to allegations that the Dys were behind the graft charges filed against former governor Grace Padaca, who is now the subject of an arrest warrant over the case.

Recently, the Sandiganbayan’s Fifth Division issued an arrest warrant for Padaca who along with three other respondents, was charged with malversation for alleged irregularities in the disbursement of P25 million in public funds in 2006.

The amount was part of the P35-million loan from the Development Bank of the Philippines for the province’s Priority Agricultural Modernization Project or Priority Hybrid Rice Program. 

“I believe that the graft court is just fair in its treatment of the case. I don’t think we have that personality to influence the court,” Dy said.

“Besides, this development, in my opinion,” he said, “just goes to show that the administration of President Aquino is fair in (its) dealings, whether an ally or not.”

Padaca, former broadcast journalist-turned politician, is a member of the dominant Liberal Party where the President is the titular head.

Dy is identified with the Nationalist People’s Coalition, whose president is Dy’s elder brother, former governor Faustino Dy Jr., whom Padaca defeated in the 2004 elections, the first time the Dys lost the governorship since the 1960s.

“Had it been our intention to destroy her reputation as she alleges, we could have easily put her to shambles about what she did to Isabela when she was the governor. But we did not do so because we are not a quarrelsome type,” Dy said.

In a statement, Padaca charged that the Dys were behind the filing of charges against her, using former third district congressman Santiago Respicio, one of the Dys’ long-time political allies.

“(The Dys) had charged me through (former congressman) Santiago Respicio, who has been their ally in lording it over our province for decades,” Padaca said.

Meanwhile, Padaca denied that she has posted P70,000 bail, saying her lawyers were still seeking to overturn the Sandiganbayan’s finding of probable cause against her.

Two of Padaca’s fellow respondents, Dionisio Pine and councilor Servando Soriano, have posted bail.

In her complaint before the anti-graft court in 2007, Respicio, who was former governor Dy’s vice governor, alleged that Padaca and the other respondents misappropriated the fund.

The irregularity, Respicio alleged, stemmed from the fact that public funds were utilized by a private entity, the Economic Development for Western Isabela and Northern Luzon Foundation Inc., of which Pine is the manager.

Padaca, however, said the fund disbursement was aboveboard, having the imprimatur of the provincial board then headed by Vice Gov. Ramon Reyes who earlier had cleared her of any irregularity, especially in the implementation of the P25-million fund.

Sen. Francis Pangilinan, a Liberal Party colleague, in statement, expressed support for Padaca, saying he was “deeply saddened and disheartened by the news that (she) is now the subject of a warrant of arrest for a criminal case.”

For his part, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo said, “We will follow the process but I believe that she (Padaca) will be able to prove her innocence.”

Sen. Teofisto Guingona III said he also believes in the innocence of the former governor.

“Former governor Grace Padaca has faced many fights in her life. Her most recent legal battle is just another one of those challenges which I personally and firmly believe, would prove once more her courage and her integrity,” Guingona said. – With Cecille Suerte Felipe