Alleged rice smuggler Bangayan posts P40,000 bail - GMA News

NBI rearrests Davidson Bangayan for power pilferage. Alleged rice smuggler Davidson Bangayan a.k.a. David Tan is escorted by NBI agents on Monday, February 3, after he was rearrested over a pending power pilferage case. Bangayan was rearrested after appearing at a Senate hearing where he was cited for contempt for allegedly lying under oath about his identity. Bangayan has repeatedly denied that he's David Tan. Danny Pata

Arrested Monday by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), embattled businessman Davidson Bangayan, believed to be big-time rice smuggler David Tan, may be home before the day ends.

This was after he posted a P40,000 bail for the electric pilferage case he is facing before a Caloocan City court and the reason why he was arrested by NBI agents earlier in the day.

Bangayan posted bail at the Manila Regional Trial Court, right after undergoing booking procedures at the NBI headquarters in Manila where his mugshot and fingerprints were taken, and where he underwent medical checkup.

“We are posting bail at the Manila RTC. You can post bail in any court. And we chose Manila because it's nearer,” said Bangayan's lawyer Benito Salazar.

As of posting time, Bangayan was at the office of Judge Marivic Umali of the Manila RTC Branch 20, waiting for the issuance of his release papers.

Salazar said after posting his client's bail that they will still “think about the next step that we will be taking.”

Bangayan was arrested after attending Monday's Senate inquiry on rice smuggling by virtue of an arrest warrant issued by the Caloocan City Regional Trial Court Branch 126.

The case, filed against a certain Rose Tan and David Tan, among others, accused them of violating Republic Act 7832 or the Anti-Electricity and Electric Transmission Lines/Materials Pilferage Act of 1994.

Salazar earlier confirmed that the name indicated in the arrest warrant and in the RTC case was David Tan and not Davidson Bangayan.

Bangayan had repeatedly claim he is not David Tan, but documents submitted to the Department of Justice about a libel case filed by Bangayan against Jesus Arranza, chairman of the Federation of Philippine Industries in 2005, showed him identifying himself as using the alias David Tan. — KBK, GMA News

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