Honasan trial for pork misuse starts

The graft trial of Sen. Gregorio Honasan II in connection with the alleged misuse of his P29.1-million pork barrel funds started on Tuesday.

But the Sandiganbayan Second Division’s hearing was rather uneventful, as the prosecution and defense opted to dispense with the presentation of the first two prosecution witnesses.

Charito Santos, license officer of the Quezon City Business Permits and Licensing Office, and Marissa Santos, chief administrative officer of the Department of Budget and Management’s central records division, were originally scheduled to take the witness stand.

The prosecution and defense opted to stipulate instead that the documents existed, so the witnesses would not need to identify them before the court anymore.

Stipulations are admissions of facts that did not have to be proven during trial.

Honasan, appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte as secretary of information and communications technology, has been accused of endorsing Focus Development Goals Foundation Inc. as partner nongovernment organization for his livelihood projects without the benefit of public bidding.

The prosecution questioned how the check and disbursement vouchers were prepared on May 30, 2012, a week before Focus was informed it would implement the project.