Thursday, April 19, 2007 Byron raps lawyer, rebels for ‘extortion’
SAYING he has had enough of the many complaints by a political prisoner, Capitol consultant Byron Garcia revealed yesterday that all the accusations stemmed from his refusal to give in to their extortion.
“Enough is enough,” said Byron in reaction to the complaints Jigger Geverola filed before the anti-graft office last Tuesday for alleged anomalous transactions in the provincial jail.
Garcia said the complaints political prisoners have filed against the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC), including the most recent one, were because he did not give in to the demands that the rebels made through lawyer Rex Fernandez.
Because of this, he said he will be filing extortion charges against Fernandez. He said he is consulting his own lawyer to check what other possible charges he could file.
Garcia said that about a year ago, he received a call telling him that someone from the New People’s Army will talk to him so nothing bad will happen to him. He was told to go to a restaurant on Gen. Maxilom Ave. and was surprised to see Fernandez.
Byron said Fernandez offered to negotiate and allegedly demanded P50,000 from him. He said that a week after, he gave the money to Fernandez in a coffee shop at a mall at the reclamation area.
Byron alleged that the rebels, through Fernandez, also demanded five M16 rifles and five M14 rifles all equipped with sniper’s scope and night vision and P500,000 so they would stop harassing him in relation to the way he is managing the CPDRC.
His conversation with Fernandez was recorded in his cellular phone and he has given a copy of the recorded conversation and other evidence to the Military Intelligence Group.
He also received letters from the wife of Karapatan officer Dennis Abarientos asking him to make a public apology for not allowing her to enter the jail, and another from the National Democratic Front telling him that he has been tried in their court.
Byron also said that there was a time when the group of Geverola and another political prisoner, Edgardo Sacamay, arranged a meeting with him through Fernandez in Samar, Leyte but he declined.
Byron said he had kept silent on these extortion activities for so long because he does not want trouble.
Fernandez, when sought for comment, admitted that he received P50,000 from Garcia and that he called Garcia because of the demands of the rebels for firearms and money.
Fernandez explained that it was Garcia who wanted to have contracts with the NPA because he was scared something will happen to him.
Garcia allegedly asked for help from Wennie Codilla, the former husband of Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia.
Fernandez said Codilla approached someone who eventually contacted him and asked if he has contacts with the NPA.
Fernandez said he just spread the word through his contacts when he was still an activist and someone from the NPA side approached him. The NPAs wanted him to deal with Byron.
Fernandez said the P50,000 he received was his lawyer’s fee because Byron needed a person to negotiate with the NPA. He also said Byron gave money to the NDF through him but he did not know how much. (MBG)
