Court lets Mitra travel, watch Pacquiao bout

The Sandiganbayan has allowed Games and Amusement Board chair Abraham Kahlil Mitra, who is facing graft charges, to travel abroad to attend an international boxing convention and “provide moral support” to Sen. Manny Pacquiao in his fight in Las Vegas next month.

The antigraft court’s First Division granted Mitra’s request to travel from Oct. 16 to Nov. 8 after his conditional arraignment on Monday, according to court documents made public on Wednesday.

The former Palawan representative pleaded not guilty to graft charges in the alleged misuse of P3 million earmarked for farm inputs for his constituents in the province’s second district in 2004.

He will head home the day after Pacquiao’s fight, arriving on Nov. 8. —VINCE F. NONATO