Court clears Maliksi in rice purchase

THE Court of Appeals (CA) has affirmed the Office of the Ombudsman’s decision junking criminal and administrative charges against former Cavite Gov. Erineo “Ayong” Maliksi in connection with alleged anomalies in the purchase of 7,500 sacks of rice worth P7.5 million in 2004.

In a 13-page ruling penned by Associate Justice Marie Christine Azcarraga-Jacob and concurred in by Associate Justices Ricardo Rosario and Edwin Sorongon, the CA’s 16th Division denied a petition for certiorari filed by Maliksi’s political rival Juanito Victor “Jonvic” Remulla as it upheld joint decisions of the Ombudsman in 2007.