MANILA, Philippines—The former director general of the Technology Resource Center (TRC) appealed the court’s decision junking his motion to travel abroad, saying his out-of-the-country business is his only source of income.
In his motion for reconsideration filed before the Sandiganbayan, Atty. Dennis Cunanan said his duties as secretary general of the Junior Chamber International (JCI) is his sole source of income since he resigned from the TRC at the height of the scandal.
“If (Cunanan) is unable to attend to his duties as Secretary General… he runs the risk of being compelled to relinquish said position and losing his sole support for his family,” the motion read.
In an earlier hearing before the court, Cunanan told the court his only source of income is P5,000 worth of allowances as JCI Secretary General.
Cunanan, who testified before the Senate and pinned down Senators Ramon Revilla Jr. and Jinggoy Estrada in the scam, had asked the court to allow him to travel to Japan and United States to attend the activities of the JCI and the United Nations.
Dennis Cunanan. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
But the fifth division hearing Estrada’s pork scam case junked Cunanan’s motion for being a “flight risk.”
Cunanan in his motion maintained that he is not a flight risk, adding that he has been out of the country in the past nine months as the Ombudsman was preparing the case against him.
“(Cunanan’s failure to attend to his duties as JCI Secretary General) would be tantamount to a grave tragedy for (Cunanan) and his family… as the denial of his motions would be tantamount to depriving him of the reasonable opportunity and the ability to support his family during the expectedly difficult times that he has to go through while facing the above-captioned and related cases,” the motion read.
Cunanan faces graft charges for allegedly earning kickbacks through the pork barrel scam under the scheme of Janet Lim-Napoles.
Cunanan is accused of using TRC as a conduit between lawmakers and Napoles’ bogus foundations to earn kickbacks.
As provisional state witness, Cunanan has testified that Senators Estrada and Revilla called him up personally so that their pork barrel funds were funneled to Napoles’ bogus foundations.
The Ombudsman had junked Cunanan’s bid for immunity from charges.
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