PERDIDO LEX EXEC ORDERED ARRESTED
Anti-graft court denies the motion to quash information filed by Teodora Limcangco, one of the five incorporators of Perdido Lex Foundation Inc.
The Sandiganbayan has ordered the arrest of one of the founders of a bogus private foundation that cornered Capitol’s P5 million in public funds in 2002.
This, after the anti-graft court denied the motion to quash information filed by Teodora Limcangco, one of the five incorporators of Perdido Lex Foundation Inc.
The Sandiganbayan’s Special Third Division ordered the issuance of an alias arrest warrant for Limcangco, saying that the graft trial against her will continue for violation of Sec. 3 (e) of Republic Act 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
The case stemmed from newspaper reports in 2004 on the release of P5 million to Perdido Lex by the Provincial Government. The funds were meant to finance a computerization program for youths in Cebu.
Graft investigators later discovered the foundation did not exist and its incorporators were nowhere to be found—except for one who turned out to be the vice governor’s housekeeper.
Apart from Limcangco, the om- budsman also indicted the four other Perdido Lex incorporators – Milagros Herrera, Fe Tan, and Nancy Sia.
Former provincial accountant, Marieto Ypil, was charged with violation of Section 3 (e) of Republic Act 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, for causing undue injury to the government by giving a private party unwarranted benefit, advantage and preference.
Charged with Ypil were former vice governor John Henry Gregory Osmeña, former Provincial Board member Victor Maambong, and Willie Mulla, Osmeña’s chief of staff.
The ombudsman also found Willie Mulla, former chief of staff of Osmeña, guilty of grave misconduct and ordered his dismissal from the service.
On the other hand, anti-graft investigators Sarah Jo Vergara, Euphemia Bacalso and Allan Francisco Garciano absolved then Cebu governor Pablo Garcia, saying his signing of the vouchers was “a ministerial task.”
They also cleared Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, who was then her father’s consultant.
The Sandiganbayan Third Division also dismissed the graft case against Osmeña for lack of evidence. The justices saw Osmeña as “victim of a frame-up.”
Osmeña and his co-accused and Veronica Ceceres, one of the foundation’s owners, had no participation in the release of P5 million to the Perdido Lex Foundation, the court ruled.
In her motion to quash, Limcangco argued the grounds cited in the case information do not constitute an offense.
She said she had no participation in the alleged hasty accreditation of the Perdido Lex and the memorandum of agreement with the Capitol, which was the basis for the release of P5 million in public funds. But the prosecution argued the case information showed sufficient evidence to charge Limcangco for violation of the anti-graft law.
In the resolution, the Sandiganbayan ruled that Limcangco’s motion lacked merit. It said that “facts” of the case records “actually constitute her defenses.”