Abalos graft arraignment postponed

The Sandiganbayan Sixth Division has postponed the arraignment of former Commission on Elections chair Benjamin Abalos until April 27.

This was after Abalos sought the deferment of his scheduled arraignment on Thursday, informing the court that he intends to appeal the denial of his motion to quash his graft case.

In an interview after the hearing, Abalos maintained that the court should have thrown out his P1.71-million graft case because of unreasonable delays on the part of the Office of the Ombudsman.

“They predicated the resolution on a chronicle of events presented by the Ombudsman. It is erroneous,” he told reporters.  —VINCE F. NONATO