Pichay calls foe’s suit a ‘nuisance’

SURIGAO del Sur Rep. Prospero Pichay Jr. shrugged off a petition seeking his ouster from Congress as a “nuisance suit” from a disgruntled candidate.

In a statement, Pichay said his defeated rival, Gregorio Murillo, should just wait for the Supreme Court decision on Pichay’s eligibility to run for public office before asking the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) to eject him from the 17th Congress.

In July 2011, the Ombudsman had ordered the dismissal and perpetual disqualification from public office of Pichay who, as chair of the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA), illegally disbursed in 2009 P780 million of the agency’s funds to buy the bankrupt Laguna-based thrift bank Express Savings Bank Inc. (Esbi) controlled by businessman William Gatchalian.

Last month, the Ombudsman ordered the filing of graft and malversation charges against Pichay for incurring an P80-million loss for LWUA in the anomalous deal.

Pichay said Murillo had filed a similar case with the Commission on Elections during the campaign, which was dismissed.

Pichay has defended the transaction with Gatchalian by saying the LWUA board had deliberated on the plan to buy a financial institution to provide cheaper funding for water resources development while earning money for the government.

Pichay also took a swipe at the Aquino administration, saying the cases filed against him were part of a political witch-hunt against the allies of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Gil Cabacungan