Ex-Customs head Biazon faces graft, malversation, bribery charges

The Office of the Ombudsman on Friday formally brought criminal charges in the Sandiganbayan against former Bureau of Customs chief Ruffy Biazon for allegedly receiving P1.95 million in kickbacks from alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles when he was still a Muntinlupa City congressman in 2007.

In separate complaints, the Ombudsman said Biazon assigned P3 million in his pork barrel allotments to Napoles-owned Philippine Social Development Foundation Inc. for a fraudulent livelihood project which was coursed through the now-defunct Technology Resource Center (TRC).

It said the former lawmaker received the money “willfully, unlawfully and feloniously” through Zenaida Ducut, the former Energy Regulatory Commission chair and Pampanga representative, who supposedly acted as his agent.

Biazon and Ducut were charged with malversation and graft along with Budget Undersecretary Mario Relampagos and his staff members Lalaine Paule, Marilou Bare and Rosario Nuñez.

Also indicted were Napoles and former TRC executives Arturo Ortiz, Dennis Cunanan and Francisco Figura.

Biazon was likewise slapped with a separate case of direct bribery. RC