Uswag Ilonggo party-list Rep. James ‘Jojo’ Ang pleaded not guilty to two of the graft charges against him before the Sandiganbayan Sixth Division on Tuesday.
Ang faces 14 counts of violating Republic Act No. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act before the Sandiganbayan, two of which were raffled to the Sixth Division.
The information filed by state prosecutors as read during the hearing on Tuesday alleged that Ang had ‘direct and/or indirect financial interest’ in contracts between the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and Allencon Development Corporation.
The contracts in question were worth P8.18 million and P16.079 million.
Ang purportedly owned 500 shares in Allencon Development Corporation.
State prosecutors argued that Ang’s alleged acquisition of the shares violated Article VI, Section 14 of the 1987 Constitution, which prohibits lawmakers from being ‘interested financially in any contract with, or in any franchise or special privilege granted by the government.’
Before Ang’s arraignment, state prosecutors moved to amend the information filed to note that the amounts indicated in the charges were ‘more or less’ P8.18 million and P16.079 million.
The prosecution cited ‘unquantifiable’ differences between the amount stated in the contract and the budget approved by the DPWH.
However, Ang’s legal counsel, Luis Vera Cruz, argued that the motion to amend the information to include the phrase ‘more or less’ would change the nature of the charges and affect the jurisdiction of the court.
Nonetheless, the Sandiganbayan Sixth Division granted prosecutors’ motion to amend the information.
The court set the preliminary conference on Monday afternoon, September 7 and the pretrial proper on Tuesday morning, September 8.
After Ang entered his plea, state prosecutors requested the Sixth Division to preventively suspend the lawmaker.
Given the state prosecutors’ request, the Sixth Division ordered Ang to file an explanation within five days as to why he should not be preventively suspended. /