Ex-Agriculture chief, others face graft raps over Philrice car plan

The Office of the Ombudsman has filed graft cases before the Sandiganbayan against former Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Arthur Yap and others in connection with a car plan that was allegedly instituted by the then-board of trustees of the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice).

“Why are they holding me liable when I was not present when the board gave its approval? I also gave conditions as board chair[man] that should the measure be approved with finality, then all terms must be advantageous to government and procedures must be followed. I never availed of any car plan myself. This is a baseless suit,” Yap, now the congressional representative of Bohol’s Third District, said in a text message on Tuesday.