Ex-TRC exec Dennis Cunanan seeks leave of court to challenge 'pork' scam case

Former Technology Resource Center (TRC) deputy director Dennis Cunanan has sought the approval of the Sandiganbayan for a leave of court that would allow him to seek the outright dismissal of the case as co-accused of former Albay Representative Reno Lim.

Cunanan filed a motion for leave to file demurrer to evidence at the Second Division on March 6.

A demurrer is a motion challenging the evidence of the prosecution, but a leave of court is needed for Cunanan to submit his rebuttal.

If granted, Cunanan said he will present how the prosecution failed to prove his guilt beyond reasonable doubt for graft and malversation.

Cunanan said the prosecution cannot assert conspiracy between him and Lim when his only connection to the scheme was his signature on disbursement vouchers where he had nothing to gain.

These are the same issues Cunanan raised at the Fifth and First Divisions of the Sandiganbayan, but only the former ruled in his favor.

Lim had requested the release of his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), or pork barrel, worth P30 million for the purchase of 8,000 sets of instructional materials and technology kits for the supposed implementation of his livelihood assistance project.

Records revealed that Lim had personally identified TRC as the implementing agency for his project and tapped Kaagapay Magpakailanman Foundation, Inc. (KMFI) as non-government organization-partner without public bidding.

The Ombudsman also cited a Commission on Audit (COA) report stating that KMFI does not have the track record to carry out the project as it was registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission only in late 2006.

The COA report further revealed that KMFI has no legitimate business and that the payment of P27 million was made to KMFI before the signing of the memorandum of agreement in 2008. —KG, GMA News