MANILA, Philippines — Senator Gregorio Honasan II on Friday posted the P60,000 bail bond earlier set by the Sandiganbayan for his provisional liberty for two counts of graft in connection with the alleged misuse of P30 million in pork barrel funds in 2012.
Honasan posted his bail before Presiding Judge Teodoro N. Solis of the Biñan City Regional Trial Court Branch 25, records transmitted by RTC Sheriff to the Sandiganbayan Second Division showed.
Prior to posting his bail, Honasan “voluntarily surrendered and was subsequently arrested” on Friday morning at Biñan City Police Station, a return of warrant signed by SPO4 Lolito Manalili stated.
Honasan was accompanied by his lawyer Dennis Manalo when he surrendered and posted his bail.
On Thursday, the anti-graft court's Second Division ordered the arrest of Honasan and his eight co-accused after it found “probable cause” to hold them on trial for two counts of violation of Section 3 (e) of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. The court set a P30,000 bail bond for each count of the charged offense or a total of P60,000.
Aside from Honasan, also ordered arrested were the senator's political affairs and project coordinator Michael Benjamin and executives of the National Council on Muslim Filipinos including Director III Galay Makalinggan, acting chief Aurora Aragon-Mabang, secretary Mehol Sadain, acting chief accountant Fedelina Aldanese and cashier Olga Galido,
The court also ordered the arrest of private respondents Giovanni Manuel Gaerlan and Salvador Gaerlan, former president and incumbent president, respectively, of the non-government organization Focus on Development Goals Foundation, Inc.
Makalinggan and Salvador Gaerlan have yet to post their bail as of Friday afternoon.
The court set the arraignment of Honasan and all his co-accused on September 22.
In an “instruction” written at the back of the arrest warrants issued against Honasan and the other respondents, it was stated that bail bond could be posted before judges of the regional trial courts outside the National Capital Region in accordance with Section 17, Rule 114 of the Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure.
Under the rule, “if the accused is arrested in a province, city, or municipality other than where the case is pending, bail may also be filed with any regional trial court of said place,” but the original copy of the bond receipt and other supporting documents must be immediately submitted to the court handling the case.
Based on the Office of the Ombudsman's record, a total of P30 million of Honasan's PDAF was released by the Department of Budget and Management in April 2012 to NCMF as the implementing agency for the senator's livelihood projects for Filipino Muslims in Metro Manila and Zambales.
The ombudsman said a total of P29.1 million from Honasan’s released PDAF was paid to Focus on Development Goals Foundation, Inc., the NGO allegedly chosen by the senator to carry out the projects.
The ombudsman said the projects were awarded to Focus without a public bidding required under Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act. The ombudsman said the respondent NCMF officials processed the release of the payment to Focus “with unusual accommodation and haste”.