SAN Simon, Pampanga Mayor Abundio Punsalan and his co-accused, Ed Ryan Dimla, will be arraigned this morning at the Sandiganbayan on criminal charges of violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and Robbery by means of Extortion filed against them by the Office of the Ombudsman.
Based on the court calendar released by the anti-graft court’s seventh division, both have already posted bail bonds last September 9, amounting to P90,000 each for the graft case and P100,000 each for the extortion charge.
The charges arose from a complaint RealSteel Corporation filed, accusing Punzalan of demanding P80 million in exchange for not revoking Municipal Ordinance No. 24-0025, which was passed by the previous Sangguniang Bayan, granting the manufacturing firm tax incentives.
The prosecution submitted its pre-trial brief by September 25, 2025 while counsels for both defendants submitted their own a day after.
Agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) collared Punsalan and Dimlain in a restaurant in Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga, last August 5 during an entrapment operation after the two received P30 million marked money.
Aside from the criminal charges now pending in court, RealSteel has likewise filed administrative charges for Grave Misconduct, Serious Dishonesty, and Conduct Prejudicial to the Best Interest of the Service against Punsalan, with a request to place him under preventive suspension to allow the investigation to proceed unhampered.
The firm, through counsel Abellon Lucero Panela and Partners, said that the mayor will use the powers of his office to “influence and defeat the investigation,” stressing the need to “ensure the integrity of the process.”
