FORMER South Cotabato Rep. Arthur Pingoy Jr. has failed to persuade justices of the Sandiganbayan Second Division to allow him to present four additional witnesses as part of his defense in his ongoing trial on corruption charges.
The former lawmaker, who served three full terms as a member of the House of Representatives from 2001 to 2010, is accused of misusing P20.91 million from his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel allocations.
The resolution was penned by Associate Justice Michael Frederick L. Musngi, with Associate Justices Oscar C. Herrera Jr. and Bayani H. Jacinto concurring.
The Office of the Ombudsman said the money ended up with two bogus non-government organizations — Philippine Social Development Foundation Inc. (PSDFI) and Social Development Program for Farmers Foundation Inc. (SDPFFI) created by alleged PDAF scam brain Janet Napoles.
Graft investigators traced sums from Pingoy’s PDAF going into the Technology Resource Center (TRC) and the National Agribusiness Corporation (Nabcor) but the projects for financial assistance to farmers, distribution of livelihood materials, and providing trainings all turned out to be non-existent, according to state auditors.
Pingoy was charged with four counts of graft, four counts of malversation of public funds, and two counts of direct bribery.
Executives of both government-owned and controlled corporations (GPCCs) were also named co-defendants together with officials of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
In his motion for reconsideration filed on October 12, 2021, Pingoy invoked his right to due process and a fair trial, saying the anti-graft court’s resolution of August 17, 2021 denying his request to call additional witnesses amounted to a deprivation of his basic rights.
Prosecutors, however, objected, noting that none of the new witnesses was identified and included by the defense in the Pre-Trial Order.
They also contested the defendant’s claim of denial of due process, noting the accused was allowed to testify even if he was not listed in the pre-trial order and had all the opportunity to cross-examine the government witnesses.
