DOE official seeks permission to travel abroad amid pending graft case

MANILA, Philippines — An official of the Department of Energy (DOE) is seeking court permission to travel abroad amid an ongoing graft case against him.

Demujin Antiporda, director IV of the energy resources development bureau under the DOE, filed a motion to allow travel before the Sandiganbayan Third Division by email on Sept. 29. 

He is a co-accused of former Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi in his graft case regarding the sale of shares in the Malampaya gas project in 2019.

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In a hearing on Thursday, the Sandiganbayan Third Division discussed the motion filed by Antiporda, although the court did not issue a decision on the matter. Currently, the motion is considered submitted for resolution.

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READ: Court: Cusi ‘sufficiently’ informed of graft case in Malampaya project

During the hearing, the defense pointed out that Antiporda was earlier allowed by the court to travel abroad four times and returned to the country each time.

The DOE official is once again seeking permission to travel abroad on Oct. 24 in order to participate as a keynote speaker for the 62nd Coordinating Committee for Geoscience Programmes in East and Southeast Asia to be held in Japan.

The prosecution, however, argued that Antiporda is a flight risk and his previous travels do not guarantee that he will continue to comply with the court and return to the country.

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It also pointed out that Antiporda was unable to establish that his attendance in the event was “indispensable” and his absence would cause “irreparable consequences,” noting that there would be other high-ranking DOE officials in attendance.

For its part, the defense said that the prosecution cannot consider Antiporda as a flight risk “without pinpointing the circumstances” leading to such designation.

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The defense also argued that Antiporda has already informed the court of the location of his hotel, and it will be “speculative” to assume that he will not be attending the activities listed in his itinerary.

Antiporda, who was present during the hearing, also told the court that he has no relatives in Japan and has no pending applications for citizenship.

Antiporda is a co-accused of Cusi in his graft case, which stemmed from their alleged involvement in facilitating the sale of a 45-percent stake of Chevron in the Malampaya gas project to UC Malampaya.

UC Malampaya is a subsidiary of Udenna Corp. that is owned by Davao businessman Dennis Uy.

According to state prosecutors, the government suffered undue injuries and damages when Cusi and his co-accused allowed UC Malampaya to take control of stake of Chevron, which they said was valued at $565 million at that time.

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They claimed that UC Malampaya was able to purchase the stake for a price of only around $387 million, resulting in a loss of almost $177.4 million. /mr