Pichay pleads not guilty

Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero Pichay Jr. PHOTO BY VINCE NONATO / INQUIRER

Rep. Prospero Pichay Jr. (Surigao del Sur) has pleaded “not guilty” to graft and breach of ethical conduct for allegedly misusing P1.5 million to fund a 2010 chess tournament held in his honor.

Pichay entered the plea for one count each of violating Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and Section 7(a) of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.

The case arose from the Local Water Utilities Administration’s (LWUA) sponsorship of the Second Chairman Prospero Pichay Jr. Cup International Chess Championship.

At the time, Pichay was concurrently the acting chair of the LWUA board of trustees and the president of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP).

Prosecutors claimed that LWUA disregarded austerity measures to divert the funds in Pichay’s favor.

Thursday’s arraignment came just a few days after the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division on Feb. 13 denied his motion to quash the case over alleged prosecution delays by the Office of the Ombudsman.

His new lawyer Jose Balmeo Jr. appealed for the arraignment to be reset, to no avail.

“We have to deny your request. Your client is here; it will be in his interest to be arraigned already,” acting division chair Justice Rafael Lagos said.

Preliminary conference on the case will proceed on March 9.

In an interview with reporters, Pichay said he “did not mind” being arraigned anyway.

But he maintained that he should not be held liable for the criminal cases “because even the Constitution promotes sports.”

“It’s not unethical. It can only be unethical if I had personal benefits. I did not have personal benefits at all because the money went to the tournament,” he said, adding that “government agencies are being encouraged to support sports.”

Pichay even pointed to the accomplishments of chess grand master Wesley So.

“In fact, because of my leadership in NCFP, a Filipino is now number two in the world in chess. We should be proud of that achievement,” he said.