Sandiganbayan orders arrest of ex-Isabela Gov. Grace Padaca

The Sandiganbayan Fifth Division has issued an arrest warrant against former Isabela Governor Maria Gracia Cielo Padaca and three other defendants in connection with charges of graft and malversation of public funds filed by the Office of the Ombudsman.   Charged along with Padaca, were Roxas town Vice Mayor Servando Soriano; former provincial legal officer Johnas Lamorena; and Dionisio Pine of the Economic Development for Western Isabela and Northern Luzon Foundation, Inc., or EDWINLFI.   Associate Justice Roland B. Jurado, chairman of the Fifth Division, signed the warrant late Monday. Issuance of the warrant was revealed Wednesday.   The graft court set the bond for her temporary liberty at P40,000 for the malversation case and P30,000 for the graft charge.   The arrest order will be forwarded to the National Bureau of Investigation’s Region 2 Office; the Isabela PNP provincial commander; and the Ilagan, Isabela PNP chief.   Padaca was accused of giving undue advantage to EDWINLFI, a non-governmental organization  tapped to manage a credit facility for Isabela’s rice farmers under a hybrid seed distribution program.   The NGO was entrusted with the sum of P25 million, which was part of a loan drawn by the provincial government from the Development Bank of the Philippines.   Prosecutors questioned the failure of Padaca to conduct a public bidding process as the transaction was in the nature of a management or consultancy contract. It was also noted that there were no safeguards placed on the amount entrusted to the NGO.   In a report issued by the Commission on Audit, government auditors said EDWINLFI failed to liquidate P3.6 million under ‘due from NGOs/POs’ and another P18 million under ‘loans receivables’.   Padaca had earlier sought deferment of the issuance of the warrant as she challenged the basis for the indictments but was opposed by prosecutors Omar Sagadal and Beda A. Epres. — DVM/ELR, GMA News