Padaca fights case

Former Isabela Governor Grace Padaca has filed a motion for leave to file a demurrer seeking dismissal of her graft and malversation case before the Sandiganbayan Third Division due to lack of evidence. Padaca was charged with graft and corruption over the deal she struck with Economic Development for Western Isabela and Northern Luzon Foundation Incorporated (EDWINLFI) back in 2006. She decided to award 125 million to have EDWINLFI manage a credit facility for Isabela’s rice farmers, but the prosecution hit Padaca because of her failure to undergo public bidding for the said deal. (Czarina Nicole O. Ong)