MEXICO, Pampanga --
Sen. Lito Lapid last week pleaded not guilty to graft charges filed against him
in connection with his alleged involvement in the fertilizer fund scam when he
was governor of Pampanga.
Lapid entered the plea
after agreeing to be conditionally arraigned so the Sandiganbayan could grant
his motion to travel to Germany.
“I want the case to
move on and I’m confident the evidence against me is weak. I believe this case
will be dismissed,” Lapid told journalists in Filipino after the proceedings.
Lapid’s arraignment
was originally set on March 10. But since he filed a motion to travel, the
Sandiganbayan said it could not grant his request unless he underwent
arraignment.
After consulting his
lawyers, Lapid agreed to be arraigned despite his pending motion seeking to
dismiss the case.
Sandigan Associate
Justice Efren de la Cruz allowed Lapid to travel and ordered him to post
P30,000 bond.
Lapid will be in
Berlin from March 7 to 15 for a tourism summit. He is the chairman of the
Senate committee on tourism.
The senator was
indicted in November last year for allegedly procuring fertilizer in 2004,
using funds provided by the Department of Agriculture for the Masaganang Ani
program.
Aside from him,
charged were provincial accountant Benjamin Yuzon and treasurer Vergel Yabut,
Malayan Pacific Trading Corp. incorporators Ma. Victoria Aquino-Abubakar and
Leolita Aquino, and businessman Dexter Alexander Vasquez.
The complaint, filed
by the Office of the Ombudsman, said the bottles of fertilizer were overpriced
and procured without public bidding.
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