Ligot posts P66,000 bail

From the Manila Bulletin (Apr 26): Ligot posts P66,000 bail

A day after after he was ordered arrested for 11 counts of perjury charges, Ret. Lt Gen. Jacinto Ligot posted bail at the Sandiganbayan Friday morning.

Ligot, whose questionable multi-million assets were exposed at the Senate public hearing went to the Sandiganbayan First Division at about 11 a.m. and posted a total of P66,000 bail or P6,000 per count of perjury.

Earlier, the Office of the Ombudsman filed 11 counts of perjury charges against Ligot for allegedly making false declarations in his statements of assets, liabilities and net (SALN) worth from 1993 to 2003.

The charges against him were filed last April 13 by the Office of the Ombudsman a few days after the Supreme Court lifted the freeze order on his assets worth P135-million.

The Sandiganbayan also issued a hold departure order (HDO) against the retired military general.

The anti-graft cour said after evaluating Information and the resolution of the prosecutor, the evidence in support, it appears that sufficient grounds exist for the finding of probable cause for the purpose of issuing a warrant of arrest against the accused charged in the instant cases.

The ruling was signed by Associate Justices Rodolfo A. Ponferrada, Rafael R. Lagos and Efren N. de laCruz, division chairman.

In a separate issuance, the graft court also issued a hold departure order against Ligot directing the Bureau of Immigration to prevent the defendant from leaving the country unless he has secured a prior clearance from Sandiganbayan.

The perjury charges is related to a forfeiture case earlier filed against Ligot, his wife Erlinda Yambao Ligot, their children Paulo Ligot, Riza Ligot, Miguel Ligot, and relatives Edgardo Yambao and Miguela Paragas for the recovery of unexplained wealth allegedly worth at least P135.28 million.

Graft investigators said the former military general concealed assets by omitting them from his statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) for the years 1993 to 2003.

It can be recalled that Ligot and his wife were subjected to intense Senate public investigation due to unexplained wealth that he and other former military officials acquired while they were in active service in the Armed Forces.

There was instance they were detained at the Senate detention facility after they were cited for contempt for not telling the truth during the Senate public inquiry in 2010.

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