Agriculture chief faces graft case

Agriculture Secretary William Dar is facing a complaint of graft, nepotism and grave abuse of authority before the Office of the Ombudsman.

In a 26-page complaint-affidavit, ex-deputy executive director John Pagaduan of the Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fisheries accused Dar of graft; violation of Executive Order No. 262 and Presidential Decree No. 807 or the Civil Service Decree; nepotism, and grave abuse of authority.

He alleged that Dar appointed his son-in-law—Alexander Arizabal Jr.—as the general manager of the Human Settlement Development Corp., an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture.

He said Arizabal is a concurrent information systems analyst III in the same agency.