Graft charges filed vs ex-DAR chief Pagdanganan, 5 others

Former Agrarian Reform secretary Roberto Pagdanganan and five others have been slapped with graft and malversation charges for the alleged fraudulent investment of millions of pesos in government funds in a private corporation seven years ago. The six allegedly conspired to divert some P30 million for their own personal benefit, according to the information filed by Assistant Special Prosecutor Jorge B. Espinal with the Sandiganbayan. Named co-defendants in the case were National Council on Food Security and Job Creation executive directors Charles R. Avila and Bienvenido R. Garrido; Philippine Coconut Authority deputy administrator Rodolfo A. Vargas; and Caluag, Quezon Integrated Coconut Processing Plant Inc. board members Victorio Conducto and Domingo O. Lavilla. Prosecutors alleged that the Department of Budget and Management disbursed the fund in 2004 for the specific purpose of construction of a coconut processing plant, not for investment in a private entity. “Records of this case proved that all the respondents conspired with another to defraud the government of the amount of P30 million earmarked supposedly for a legitimate government purpose, the establishment of a coconut processing plant in the province of Quezon," the Ombudsman said in its resolution. The filing of criminal charges against the six was approved on July 18, 2011 by then-Acting Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro based on the recommendations of Graft Investigation Officer Russel C. Labor. President Benigno Aquino III has already appointed retired Supreme Court Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales as the new Ombudsman. - KBK/HS, GMA News