Former National Commission on Muslim Filipinos Secretary Yasmin Busran-Lao and chief-of-staff Norodin Lomondot have been charged in the Sandiganbayan with graft over alleged irregularities in the provision of housing accommodations for 3,000 pilgrims during the 2014 Hajj season. The Ombudsman questioned the housing contract with Al-Rayah Hotels at the Al Khozai Tower in Makkah (Mecca), Saudi Arabia, as the said tower was still under construction at the time. Each of the three persons would be required to post a P30,000-bail bond for their temporary liberty. Sultan Masideng Salic, a former director of NCMF’s bureau of pilgrimage and endowment, will be presented as one of the prosecution witnesses. Salic claimed in April 2016 that he was ousted by Malacañang after filing the complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman over the alleged irregularities in the use of Hajj funds.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer January 17, 2018 09:33 UTC