Former Commission on Audit chairman Reynaldo Villar on Friday filed a petition for bail before the Sandiganbayan in connection with the plunder case he is facing on the alleged misuse of P366 million Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) fund, radio dzBB reported.
This was confirmed to GMA News Online by a court personnel who refused to be named. The former COA chief was accompanied by his counsel, lawyer Rene Saguisag.
The court personnel said a mugshot of Villar was also taken and submitted to the court.
Villar is a co-accused of former President and incumbent Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the case.
Aside from Mrs. Arroyo and Villar, the other accused in the plunder case are former PCSO general manager Rosario Uriarte; former PCSO assistant general manager for finance Benigno Aguas; former PCSO board directors Jose Taruc V and Ma. Fatima A. S. Valdes; and Sergio Valencia, Manuel Morato and Raymundo Roquero, all former PCSO officials.
At present, only Uriarte and Valdes remain at large.
Mrs. Arroyo remains under hospital arrest at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City.
Taruc surrendered in March and was arraigned in April. He was allowed to post a P1-million bail.
Morato was arraigned in December 2012, weeks after he underwent a triple heart bypass at the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City.
Valencia and Aguas, both surrendered in October 2012, while Roquero surrendered on January 18, 2013.
In June 2013, the court allowed Valencia, Morato and Roquero to post bail.
