THE Ombudsman yesterday readied graft charges against former Bukidnon Rep. Nereus Acosta, his mother and an aunt, for allegedly illegally spending P10.5 million in public funds.

Nereus, his mother Socorro Acosta, a former mayor of Manolo Fortich town in Bukidnon, and his aunt Nemia Bornidor, a board member of the privately owned Bukidnon Integrated Network of Home Industries or Binhi, are to be charged before the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court.

Nereus is accused of illegally transferring a rice dryer worth P2.5 million from the Talakag municipality to Binhi in Manolo Fortich. He is also accused of releasing P250,000 to Binhi and P5.5 million to the Bukidnon Vegetable Producers Cooperative, another private entity.

Socorro will be charged with graft for illegally approving the release of P5.5 million to the cooperative, where she is a director.

Bornidor is accused of conspiring with Nereus to release government money to Binhi, where she is a board member.

?They should stop crucifying me because their accusations are baseless. They had better look for bigger fish like [former Agriculture Undersecretary] Jocjoc Bolante, who is guilty about the fertilizer scam,? Nereus said yesterday.

?Why are they reviving this seven-year-old case? Is it because I intend to run for the Senate under the opposition party?? said Nereus, the Liberal Party?s vice president for Mindanao.

He slammed the Zubiris of Bukidnon and their allies, claiming they used the case against him when he ran but failed in his reelection bid.

But Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez said bad faith was evident when Nereus participated in bringing the dryer to Manolo Fortich to benefit Binhi, which was founded by his family.

?Considering the immediate transfer of the dryer to Manolo Fortich in less than a month after it was bought, it would appear that the dryer was purchased solely for the purpose of giving advantage and benefit to Binhi,? Gutierrez said.

She said Nereus and Bornidor had also apparently conspired to give P2.5 million in pork barrel to Binhi.

?The fund ended up in the hands of respondent Bornidor, coupled with the declaration of [then Talakag Mayor Amado] Noble that ?there was already a prior arrangement for such release between Congressman Acosta and Binhi,? she said.

The transfer of P5.5 million to the cooperative could not have been for a ?public purpose,? Gutierrez said.

The case against the three stemmed from a complaint filed by the Bukidnon Crusade against Graft and Corruption, which claims that on Jan. 9, 2001, Nereus and Noble agreed to appropriate P2.5 million to acquire the dryer for Talakag, but Nereus instead sent it to Binhi in Manolo Fortich. Macon Ramos Araneta and Christine F. Herrera