Verzosa pleads not guilty to P131-M rubber boat scam

MANILA, Philippines - Former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Jesus Verzosa pleaded not guilty yesterday to graft charges filed against him before the Sandiganbayan in connection with the P131.5-million rubber boat scam.

He and seven other former PNP officials, assisted by their lawyers, appeared before the anti-graft court’s Third Division for the arraignment.

Luizo Ticman, Romeo Hilomen, Herold Ubalde, and Ronald Roderos also pleaded not guilty.

The Sandiganbayan entered a plea of not guilty for Jefferson Soriano and Villamor Bumanglag, whose lawyers said they intend to question their indictment before the Supreme Court.

Versoza and his fellow respondents were indicted by the Office of the Ombudsman earlier this year for their alleged involvement in the anomalous purchase of 75 defective rubber boats in 2008 valued at P131.5 million.

Graft probers said the PNP Maritime Group, through its Technical Inspection Committee on Watercrafts, “discovered various deficiencies in these equipment, which make their use risky to end-users” and that the boats and engines were not functional when fitted together – making them unusable for the disaster operation efforts of the PNP.

The Office of the Ombudsman said the government suffered undue injury in the amount of P131.5 million with the irregular purchase of the rubber boats.