Cagayan de Oro ‘s former representative Constantino Jaraula on Monday pleaded not guilty before the Sandiganbayan to three counts each of malversation, graft and direct bribery in connection with his alleged involvement in the pork barrel fund scam.
“I vehemently plead not guilty, your honor,” he told the anti-graft court’s First Division during his arraignment.
He said he had no knowledge about the Napoles-linked Countrywide Agri and Rural Economic and Development Foundation (CARED).
Earlier, Jaraula posted a P300,000 bail for his temporary liberty.
In February, the Office of the Ombudsman filed the charges against Jaraula for alleged misuse of P50.5 million worth of his Priority Development Assistance Fund from 2004 to 2007.
The Ombudsman accused Jaurala of channelling his pork barrel fund to fake non-government organizations engineered by Napoles and of receiving P20.8 million in commissions.
“The charges were just made up. I never transacted with Napoles. I never knew about this CARED,” Jaraula told an interview.
Endorsement letters showing he chose CARED as PDAF beneficiary were fraud, he said.
“If you examine the (content of) endorsement letters, it’s not my language. It was the language of a high school graduate,” he added.
A preliminary conference is set on July 2, to be followed by successive conferences every Tuesdays and Thursdays afterwards.
The First Division has scheduled a pre-trial on Aug. 27 at 8:30 a.m. Janet Lim Napoles, Jaraula’s co-accused in the malversation, graft and direct bribery suits, also entered a not-guilty plea.
“I plead not guilty, your honor,” Napoles told the First Division composed of Associate Justices Efren de la Cruz, Rafael Lagos and Rodolfo Ponferrada.
Those accused in the malversation case — Budget Undersecretary Mario Relampagos, and his staff Marilou Bare, Lalaine Paule and Rosario Nunez – also pleaded not guilty.
Napoles has been charged with several charges of plunder and graft before various divisions of the Sandiganbayan for her participation in the P10-billion PDAF scam.
She is now detained at the Correctional Institute for Women in Mandaluyong City for serious illegal detention filed by her cousin-whistleblower Benhur Luy.