5 more accused in 'pork' cases arraigned

MANILA, Philippines - Three of the five co-accused in connection with P10-billion pork barrel scam on Thursday pleaded not guilty to the charges before the Sandiganbayan.

 

During their arraignment, Emmanuel Alexis Sevidal and Sofia Cruz, both employees of the National Livelihood Development Corp.; and Francisco Figura of the Technology Resource Center, all entered not guilty pleas before the anti-graft court's First Division chaired by Associate Justice Efren dela Cruz.

 

Figura is facing four counts of graft while Sevidal and Cruz both have been saddled with eight counts each.

 

Meanwhile, two of Sen. Ramon 'Bong' Revilla Jr.'s co-accused, Roman Cacal and Rhodora Mendoza, both of the National Agribusiness Corp., refused to enter any plea on the graft cases against them filed by government prosecutors. As a rule, the court entered a not guilty plea for the two accused.

 

Cacal has three counts of graft while Mendoza is facing four counts of graft.

 

After the arraignment, the Sandiganbayan scheduled the pre-trial on the cases on October 29.