The Sandiganbayan will
proceed with the trial of newly elected Nueva Ecija governor Aurelio Umali in
connection with the pork barrel scam.
In a
resolution promulgated on May 27 and obtained by reporters Thursday, the
anti-graft court’s second division denied Umali’s motion to indefinitely stop
his trial for four counts of graft and three counts of malversation of public
funds over alleged misuse of his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or
pork barrel when he was congressman in 2005.
Umali sought
to suspend court proceedings last month, citing the motion he filed seeking the
reversal of the Office of the Ombudsman ruling on Nov. 14, 2016 finding
probable cause to indict him.
However, the
Sandiganbayan said Umali had filed a motion for reconsideration on the ruling
on Feb. 6, 2017, which the ombudsman denied on Sept. 29, 2017.
“The motion
for reconsideration he filed on May 2 is already a second motion for
reconsideration, which is disallowed under Section 7 (a) of Administrative
Order (AO) 7 (Rules of Procedure of the Office of the Ombudsman),” the second
division said.
The court
noted that under the AO, the accused shall apply for a leave of court before
filing any appeal before the ombudsman if the case is pending in court.
Umali is
accused of allowing the allocation and release of P12 million of his PDAF to
the Masaganang Ani Para sa Magsasaka Foundation Inc. for livelihood projects
and P3 million to the Samahan ng mga Manininda ng Prutas sa Gabi Inc. for
agricultural programs for his constituents without public bidding.
The ombudsman
said both non-government organizations were “unaccredited and unqualified”
to undertake the projects.
None of the
supposed projects was implemented, it added.
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