Zamora pleads not guilty in anomalous firearms case

San Juan Vice Mayor Francis Zamora on Monday pleaded not guilty to a technical malversation charge for the alleged illegal use of calamity funds to buy high-powered firearms in San Juan City.

The court required him to again undergo arraignment as he appealed the finding of probable cause against him.

Zamora was charged as part of the city council which approved the issuance of an ordinance that allowed the use of calamity funds for the purchase of high-powered firearms in 2008. He was then a councilor.

The principal accused is then-San Juan Mayor-now-Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito, who faces a separate graft trial for giving undue benefit to the supplier of firearms.

Zamora’s co-accused, then councilors Angelino Mendoza and Rolando Bernardo, also pleaded not guilty.

They were charged with illegal use of public funds for purposes other than which the fund was appropriated, punishable under Section 220 of the Revised Penal Code.

READ: San Juan vice mayor Zamora pleads not guilty to malversation

The court set the preliminary conference starting Oct. 26, and the pre-trial on Nov. 10. The trial is set to start on Nov. 22 to 23.

Zamora underwent conditional arraignment in May, when he pleaded not guilty, for the court to assume jurisdiction on his travel motion to California.

In May, Zamora lost his bid as San Juan mayor against a former ally, reelectionist Mayor Guia Gomez, mother of Sen. Ejercito.

In the anti-graft court Fifth Division, Ejercito was separately charged with graft for the alleged anomalous purchase of high-powered rifles worth P2.1 million using calamity funds.

Ejercito has posted bail. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

READ: Ejercito blames rivals in firearms deal graft rap

The prosecutors accused Ejercito of conspiring with other city officials to purchase high-powered firearms in February 2008 using the city’s calamity fund as “investment for disaster preparedness.”

The city council, which included Zamora, then passed an ordinance that allowed Ejercito to buy the firearms for the city’s police department.

Ejercito approved the purchase even though the city was not under a state of calamity when the purchase was made.

The firearms bought using the city’s calamity fund include: three K2 cal. 5.56-mm sub-machine guns and 17 Daewoo K1 cal. 5.56-mm sub-machine guns.

The purchase was done with haste without “competitive bidding and without any post-qualification, bolstered by bid documents bearing dates earlier than the publication of the invitation to bid, showing that an unwarranted benefit, advantage and preference was accorded to the supplier,” the prosecutors said.

The Ombudsman cited the joint circular between the Departments of Budget and Management and the Interior and Local Government which did not include high-powered firearms among the items needed for disaster relief and mitigation./rga

READ: JV Ejercito, San Juan VM Zamora face graft raps over P2.1-M gun deal