Bacolod Mayor Monico Puentevella. Nestor Corrales/INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO
BACOLOD CITY—Mayor Monico Puentevella has asked the Sandiganbayan to allow him to fly to Hong Kong this month to stand as a principal sponsor in the wedding of his friend.
Puentevella, who is seeking reelection in the May general elections, has been indicted for graft last year over the allegedly anomalous purchase of P26-million worth of computer kits when he was still a Bacolod congressman from 2002 to 2007.
The mayor had vehemently denied the allegations, claiming the case brought by the Office of the Ombudsman against him was the handiwork of his political rivals.
In a three-page motion, the mayor told the antigraft court’s Fourth Division that he had been invited as one of the principal sponsors in the wedding of Catherine Sofia Francisco Herrera and Herbert Chan Hung on Jan. 24 at Conrad Hotel in Hong Kong.
Being an incumbent elected official, he maintained that he was “not a flight risk and… has all the intention to stay in the country to protect the interests of the city and the people he swore to serve.”
“If it is of any significance, the accused respectfully informs the honorable court that he faithfully complied with all the conditions imposed on him in connection with his previous travels abroad,” read a portion of Puentevella’s motion.
“Accused Puentevella undertakes to abide by and comply with all the conditions the honorable court may impose on him in connection with his travel to Hong Kong,” it added.
Puentevella said he would leave the country on Jan. 21 and return a day after the wedding of his close friend Herrera.
While in Hong Kong, he said he would stay at Prince Hotel, Marco Polo. He also mentioned the address and telephone number of the hotel as well as his personal mobile phone number and e-mail address in his motion.
He said he already asked the Department of the Interior and Local Government to grant him a travel authority which he promised to present to the court as soon as he secured the document.