Gatchalian, Pichay barred from leaving PH | ABS-CBN

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Gatchalian, Pichay barred from leaving PH

Gatchalian, Pichay barred from leaving PH

Carolyn Bonquin,

ABS-CBN News

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Senator Sherwin Gatchalian and Surigao del Sur 1st District Rep. Prospero Pichay. File/Composite

MANILA – The Sandiganbayan has issued a hold departure order against Senator Sherwin Gatchalian and Surigao del Sur 1st District Rep. Prospero Pichay due to their graft charges.

Gatchalian and Pichay are facing graft charges in connection with the alleged illegal purchase of Local Water Utilities Administration of stocks from Laguna-based thrift bank Express Savings Bank Inc (ESBI), owned by the Gatchalian family.

Pichay was the head of the LWUA at the time of the stock purchase.

Gatchalian on Friday posted P90,000 bail for his graft, malversation and violation of the manual for regulations of bank charges last Friday.

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The anti-graft court also barred Rep. Weslie Gatchalian, Kenneth, William and Dee Hua Gatchalian from leaving the country.

The LWUA is accused of buying 445,377 stocks from ESBI worth P80 million without the approval from the Office of President, the Monetary Board (MB) of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, and the Department of Finance (DOF).

Aside from P80 million paid for the stocks, LWUA also allegedly deposited P300 million in a savings account at ESBI, and another P400 million advance payment for stock subscription to the bank.

The Ombudsman questioned why the transaction pushed through despite negative findings on the diligence audit conducted on ESBI.

The bank was allegedly nearing bankruptcy when the transaction took place, with a negative P12.932 million net in 2009, and consistently suffered substantial net losses and capital deficits from 2005 to 2009.

Gatchalian had said he is confident of obtaining a "speedy and definitive" acquittal before the anti-graft court, saying there was no clear evidence linking him to ESBI and the supposedly anomalous sale.

He said he was never involved in the management of the bank, including the negotiations regarding the bank's sale to LWUA in 2009.

"My only involvement with ESBI was my ownership of 14 shares of stock, representing a measly 0.00001886062 percent of the total shareholdings sold to LWUA," he said.

Gatchalian said for the sale of those shares, he received a total of P2,514.82.

"The Ombudsman has such little evidence against me that they have actually started creating facts out of thin air," he said.

"I am ready to fully cooperate with court processes in hopes of obtaining a speedy acquittal from these baseless charges. During my 15-year career in public service, I have never had any allegations of corruption or abuse of power thrown my way. I am confident that the Sandiganbayan will vindicate my honor and put this issue to rest, once and for all," he added.

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