Sandigan drops case vs accused in PDAF scam

MANILA, Philippines – The First Division of the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan dropped the cases filed against one of the persons implicated in the multi-billion peso pork barrel fund scam.

The division – which handles the graft case filed against Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr – dismissed on May 20 the charges filed against Myla Ogerio after the Office of the Ombudsman admitted she was implicated in the cases by mistake.

Ogerio is one of the alleged incorporators of Agri and Economic Program for Farmers Foundation Inc (AEPFFI), which reportedly received pork barrel allocations from the offices of Senators Revilla and Juan Ponce Enrile Jr.

“Accused Ogerio is hereby dropped from the Informations (sic), and these cases are dismissed in so far as she is concerned. The bond posted by the said accused may now be withdrawn,” the Sandiganbayan division said.

Whistleblowers Benhur Luy, Marina Sula and Merlina Suñas earlier identified Ogerio in affidavits as one of the employees of Janet Napoles’ JLN Corporation who took part in the scam. But Ogerio denied this, and insisted there was no proof she was an employee of JLN Corp. Napoles has been alleged to be the mastermind of the pork barrel scam.

In June 2014, Ogerio was among those listed as Revilla’s co-accused and who had not surrendered to authorities. Revilla surrendered and posted bail on June 19.

The First Division noted that the Office of the Ombudsman and the National Bureau of Investigation did not object to the dropping of the charges against Ogerio. It also ordered the Bureau of Immigration to lift the hold departure order against her.

Ogerio, however, still faces separate graft cases in the Third Division, which handles the cases filed against Enrile. Her camp has already filed for the same petition, which the division has yet to resolve. – Rappler.com