MANILA, Philippines – House Majority Leader Rolando Andaya has filed an appeal with the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan to provide him with a bill of particulars in the graft and malversation charges he is facing over the P900-million Malampaya fund scam.

He faces 97 counts of graft and an equal number of counts for malversation.

A bill of particulars will compel the prosecution to provide specific accusations against Andaya, charged in the scam for being the budget secretary when former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered the release of the funds, found to have been scammed pork barrel scam style.

Arroyo was dropped from the charges at the Ombudsman level.

“Considering the gravity and magnitude of the charges against him, such a request for more factual details concerning his alleged complicity is not just a matter of procedural remedy but is a substantive right founded on the Constitution,” Andaya said in his motion dated August 28.

Andaya also asks that the Sandiganbayan resets his arraignment.

Why is this issue interesting? The last prominent person to be granted a bill of particulars request is former senator Juan Ponce Enrile. It was granted by the Supreme Court no less.

The effect is that Enrile’s pork barrel scam case has yet to finish the pre-trial stage, while those of the other accused have already progressed. Former senator Bong Revilla’s case has already finished trial, pending judgment.

If the Sandiganbayan grants the motion, it will imply that the court does not believe the charges against Andaya were specific enough.

Unfortunately for Andaya, the Sandiganbayan 3rd Division – which is also handling the Enrile case – has denied the first motion, and ruled that Andaya must move on to trial.

“Contrary to accused-movant Andaya Jr’s allegation, an objective and careful reading of the one-hundred ninety-four informations in these cases reveals that there is nothing ambiguous or confusing in the allegations therein against him,” the court had said before.

The latest motion is an appeal for reconsideration.

What was Andaya’s role in the Malampaya scam? In October 2009, Arroyo issued Executive Order (EO) 848 authorizing the use of the Malampaya fund “for purposes as may be directed by the President of the Philippines.”

Malampaya funds are royalties from operations in the Malampaya gas and oil fields in Palawan. Strictly speaking, the profits should go only to energy resource development and exploration programs.

But under Presidential Decree 910 signed in 1976, the president of the Philippines is allowed to determine “other purposes” which the earnings might be used for. Arroyo exercised this discretion in 2009.

Andaya was Arroyo’s budget secretary at the time. 

The funds would be funneled through Napoles-run non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in a scheme similar to the pork barrel scam. Janet Napoles, and her children Jo Christine and James Cristopher are charged alongside Andaya, Ruby Tuason, and others.

The prosecution charged Andaya “for approving the request of [the] Department of Agrarian Reform from the Malampaya fund despite the lack of any clear basis for the specified amount..even prior to the review thereof by DBM Director Nora C. Oliveros and despite the latter’s observatioons on the lack of supporting documents.”

The Commission on Audit (COA) has also found that most projects approved during Andaya’s term had deficiencies, resulting in the misuse of a total of P38 billion in Malampaya funds.

Andaya, who is Camarines Sur 1st District Representative, became House Majority Leader when Arroyo took over the House Speakership in a made-for-television ouster in July. – Rappler.com