The anti-graft court of the Philippines, Sandiganbayan First Division has found probable cause to try the controversial Northern Cotabato Governor Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza for graft over the anomalous procurement of diesel purchased from her mother’s gas station. Gov. Mendoza became the hottest topic on social media during the Kidapawan rally after she was caught on cam planning to block donations to farmers.
The Sandiganbayan decided to deny Mendoza’s plea for motion for reconsideration citing evidence against her. The court explains that the accused, Gov. Mendoza has not advanced any ground or argument sufficient to warrant a reconsideration of the court’s previous ruling.
“The court has found that there is indeed probable cause to hold the accused for trial for violation of Section 3(e) of the Republic Act 3019,” the court said.
Although the Sandiganbayan charged the North Cotabato Governor with graft, the court no longer issued an arrest warrant because the governor had already posted her P90,000 bail bond last June 17 for three counts of graft or P30,000 for each count.
In an official statement released to the media, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales said that Gov. Mendoza allowed of P2.4 million from the provincial funds to pay for 49,526.72 liters of fuel used for one road grader and four dump trucks utilized during the two-day road rehabilitation projects but no public bidding was conducted, and instead the provincial government directly contracted for fuel with the gas station owned by her mother.