Former Deputy Director General Dennis Cunanan of the Technology and Livelihood Resource Center, who is facing another graft case, will be subjected to a regular trial by the Sandiganbayan.
This, as the antigraft court denied Cunanan’s motion for leave of court, a plea that is in preparation for the eventual filing of a motion for demurrer to evidence, which if granted by the court would result in the outright dismissal of the case.
In the case, Cunanan and former Isabela Rep. Anthony Miranda were accused of graft and malversation of public funds for allegedly misusing the legislator’s pork barrel amounting to P20.06 million.
The anti-graft court’s Second Division in a resolution dated March 28, denied Cunanan’s appeal for outright dismissal of his criminal cases.
Miranda is accused of assigning his Priority Development Assistance Fund, or pork barrel to Aksyon Makasama Foundation Inc., which he himself controlled, as “project partner” for the implementation of livelihood projects.
The Ombudsman said the project was implemented despite lack of public bidding. In addition, the prosecutors said AMFI was not accredited as a project partner at the time the project was implemented in 2007.
Prosecutors claimed that Cunanan and his co-accused TLRC officials allegedly facilitated the disbursement of the funds to AMFI, “thus allowing the non-governmental organization to divert the money to Miranda’s control.”
Cunanan said his role in the project was ministerial and is insufficient to link him to the crime.
Associate Justice Michael Frederick Musngi wrote the resolution. Associate Justices Oscar Herrera Jr. and Lorifel Pahimna concurred.