Arrest of ex-Surigao lawmaker sought

Prosecutors have sought the arrest of former Surigao del Norte congressman Constantino Navarro Jr. for supposedly ignoring the hearings on the graft and malversation case against him at the Sandiganbayan.

Prosecution Bureau I director Raymundo Julio Olaguer and assistant special prosecutor III Omar Sagadal filed the motion before the anti-graft court’s first division, which is handling the 10 counts of graft and one count of malversation of public funds against Navarro.

Navarro has claimed that he is mentally incapable to stand trial, but the prosecutors noted that they have been trying to get him to undergo psychiatric examinations to verify his claim but to no avail because he would not cooperate with doctors from the National Center for Mental Health.

The prosecutors moved that Navarro be cited for contempt of court and that his bail bond be canceled for allegedly lying to the Sandiganbayan.

Navarro is accused of making irregular disbursements from his Countryside Development Fund or pork barrel funds amounting to P11.83 million between 1997 and 1998.

The funds were meant for the purchase of medical supplies to be distributed among the local government units covered by Navarro’s congressional district.

But graft investigators of the Office of the Ombudsman said they found evidence of overpricing, lack of public bidding, falsified papers relative to the deliveries, and ghost distributions.

Mayors and barangay chairmen confirmed the Ombudsman’s findings, saying they did not receive the medical supplies and that their signatures were forged.