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Monday, January 16, 2006
Suplico accused of 'extortion'
ILOILO Representative Rolex Suplico, is now in hot water after a private individual had filed "graft and administrative" complaints against him before the Office of the Ombudsman.
Suplico was accused by complainant Emiliano dela Victoria, who represents Kabalikat Kontra Kotong (KKK), of "using his position as a member of the House to harass private companies by subjecting them to Congressional inquiries to extort money or concessions from them."
Dela Victoria said among those companies that Suplico allegedly victimized include the multinational Kimberly-Clark and mobile phone companies Globe Telecoms and Smart Communications, Inc.
He said the congressman is liable for "violations of Republic Act (RA) 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act" and "RA 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees."
Suplico however quickly dismissed the complaint as nothing but rehash of the same issues. He said the charges against him had already been junked twice before the House committee on ethics and the Office of the Ombudsman as well.
He said he does not know the complainant and the group that he represents. "I don't know this guy Victoria or his group. Some of these issues were supposed to have happened during my first term (as congressman). He must be more powerful than Jesus Christ because God resurrected Lazarus only once but Victoria is trying to revive something that has been killed twice already," he said.
Dela Victoria, in his complaint-affidavit, said it was during the 11th Congress when Suplico filed a House resolution seeking to revoke water permit issued by the National Water Resource Board (NWRB) to Kimberly Clark Philippines. He wanted the matter investigated on the ground that the issuance of the resolution was "illegal" under the 1987 Constitution.
"Rather than being an act motivated by nationalistic fervor, the said act instead was motivated by selfish and far less noble reasons. The filing of the resolution/petition was intended to benefit and favor Goodwill Trading, one of whose shareholders happened to be Suplico's father-in-law," said the complainant.
Also, it was alleged that Kimberly Clark Philippines and Goodwill Trading were renegotiating the lease for the property owned by Suplico and the investigation supposedly intimidated the multinational firm to yield better terms to Goodwill Trading by paying P175 million for the property.
On the case of the telecom firms, Suplico had been tagged as a member of the "Gang of Five" that allegedly extorted P2 million from Globe and Smart in another Congressional investigation during the 12th Congress.
Reaction
"All they were saying about the case were not true. Instead, they blackmailed me in order to ruin my name in public. In the first place, we had P37 million worth of shares," he added.
"The public knows that I'm a fine political official who is not after my welfare. I'm looking at the bright side. I stand for what I committed to as a leader," Suplico added.(Sunnex with reports from Simeon Darren Astorga)
(January 16, 2006 issue)
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