Eight of the 13 individuals charged as co-accused of Senator Juan Ponce Enrile in the P10-B pork barrel scam on Monday pleaded not guilty to the graft charges filed against them by the Office of the Ombudsman.
At their arraignment before the Third Division of the Sandiganbayan, the eight maintained that their signatures were just forged by pork barrel fund scam whistleblowers Benhur Luy, Marina Sula and Merlina Suñas.
Two other accused, Hernani Ditchon and Rodrigo Galay, meanwhile, were present but were not arraigned pending a motion for reconsideration that they recently filed urging the court to revise its September 29 ruling finding probable cause to proceed with the graft cases.
Another accused, Laarni Uy who is based in Davao, failed to show up during the arraignment, but the court said she likewise filed a motion for reconsideration on the September 29 ruling.
In a chance interview after the arraignment, lawyer of the accused, Willie Rivera, said his clients were all unaware of the appearance of their names in several documents used by the Ombudsman as evidence as their signatures were all forged especially by Luy.
“E ‘yung isa nga doon, si Ditchon, hindi marunong sumulat at bumasa, karpentero lang siya. Paano makakapirma as incorporator daw in one of Napoles’ NGOs?” Rivera said.
Cabilao also denied picking up any check and depositing it in the accounts under the names of Napoles’ non-government organizations (NGOs). She is facing 15 counts of graft.
Rodriguez, in his motion, meanwhile, told the anti-graft court that he was just a driver in the company of Napoles. Though he admitted that he was sometimes tasked to pick up parcels and receive checks from government agencies, he maintained that he was not privy to any transaction or business of the company he works for because he “is just the driver.” Rodriguez is facing 31 counts of graft.
Piorato, Ramirez, Encarnacion, Ornopia, Fabian and Castillo, in their earlier motions claimed that they did not know Napoles.
“Given their association with Napoles and the categorical statement of witnesses that some of the incorporators were aware of their involvement in the creation of the NGOs, the possibility of their involvement in the instant cases is not without factual basis,” the Ombudsman said. —KG, GMA News
