Senator pleads not guilty in graft case

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian pleaded not guilty to charges of graft and malversation of public funds before the Sandiganbayan yesterday in connection with his alleged involvement in a bank sale anomaly in 2009.

The lawmaker underwent a conditional arraignment as a requirement for the grant of his request for permission to travel to China to join President Duterte’s delegation from today until Oct. 21.

Gatchalian will also have to post a travel bond of P270,000.

Ombudsman lawyers earlier opposed his request for a travel clearance and expressed their “vehement objection” to the urgent motion to travel filed by Gatchalian.

They said he is a flight risk, considering that he has not yet been arraigned on the graft charges he is facing.

Gatchalian is accused of playing a role in the allegedly anomalous purchase by the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) of a thrift bank owned by his family in 2009.

The Sandiganbayan earlier granted his co-accused Valenzuela Rep. Weslie Gatchalian’s request to join the same trip to China with Duterte after also undergoing conditional arraignment, where he entered a not guilty plea to the charges and after posting a travel bond of P270,000.