EJERCITO
Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito yesterday posted his P30,000 bail from graft over the allegedly anomalous purchase of high-powered firearms when he was San Juan mayor.
A check with the Sandiganbayan cashier’s office showed that Ejercito paid his bail in cash around 9 a.m.
As of press time, Ejercito was at the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division clerk of court for the booking procedure.
Ejercito posted bail after the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division issued an arrest warrant against him after it found probable cause to try him for graft.
“After perusing the Information and carefully assessing the resolution of the Office of the Ombudsman, the evidence in support thereof and the records of the preliminary investigation attached thereto, the Court finds that sufficient grounds exist for the finding of probable cause for purpose of issuing warrant of arrest in this case,” the court said in a resolution dated April 4.
Also issued warrants were Ejercito’s co-accused–city administrator Ranulfo Dacalos, treasurer Rosalinda Marasigan, attorney Romualdo delos Santos, budget officer Lorenza Ching and engineer Danilo Mercardo.
Ejercito was charged for graft over the anomalous purchase of high-powered rifles worth P2.1 million using calamity funds when he was San Juan mayor in 2008.
According to the information, Ejercito conspired 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 then passed a city ordinance allowing 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 units of model K2 cal. 5.56mm sub-machine guns and 17 units of Daewoo model K1 cal. 5.56 mm sub-machine guns.