Sandiganbayan denies Dimaporo’s bail request

MANILA, Philippines – Lanao del Norte Representative Abdullah Dimaporo’s request for bail was denied by the Sandiganbayan, the Philippines’ anti-graft court, on Wednesday, March 11.

The request was denied on the grounds that he is indicted for a criminal offense punishable by reclusion perpetua or life in prison.

The vote was 3 against 2. Associate Justices Oscar Herrera Jr, Napoleon Inoturan and Rodolfo Ponferrada voted against Dimaporo’s request for bail, while Associate Justices Teresita Diaz-Baldos and Samuel Martires dissented.

The anti-graft court said that the amount of bail for the defendant cannot be fixed without determining first if the evidence of his guilt is strong. 

The Revised Penal Code carries a penalty of life imprisonment if the public funds involved amount to more than P22,000. 

The lawmaker from Lanao is accused of misappropriating P5 million in government funds released by the Department of Agriculture in December 2004 under the Farm Input and Farm Implements Program (FIFIP). This is commonly known as the fertilizer fund scam. (READ: Sandiganbayan serves arrest warrant vs Dimaporo) 

Prosecutors alleged that the money went into the Lanao Foundation Inc (LFI), a non-governmental organization, for the purchase of fertilizers to be distributed to local farmers. But prosecutors said that the money was misused. They accused LFI of submitting a fake list of farmers, inspection and acceptance reports.

The warrant against Dimaporo, provincial agriculturist Isabelo Luna VI, and LFI officers Felizardo Dragon, Evangeline Ontiveros, Rosalinda Bisenio, and Elmer Sayre was issued in August 2013.

He has been under hospital arrest for the past 18 months. – Rappler.com