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Saturday, June 04, 2005
Plot to discredit jueteng witness bared
MANILA -- Opposition Senator Panfilo Lacson said Friday that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has picked up four persons in Bicol to disprove allegations raised by an ex-jueteng operator against legislators, local executives and police officials.
Lacson said Nangte Bodino and Rizalino Serilla, two jueteng fixers presented by the NBI Thursday, are included in the move to discredit Wilfredo Mayor, who tagged President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's son as among those who received jueteng protection money in his testimony at a Senate inquiry last week.
Based on information he received, the senator said the move to discredit the witness is the handiwork of NBI Director Reynaldo Wycoco and Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez Sr.
Lacson said Mayor will face Bodino and Serilla when the Senate inquiry resumes on Monday and their testimonies will determine who among them is telling the truth.
Bodino and Nangte earlier claimed that Mayor was paid P5 million by an opposition senator to implicate certain people in jueteng.
When asked if he is the one backing Mayor, Lacson just laughed off the question. "Hindi pa nga sila sigurado kung sino sa amin ni Senator Jinggoy Estrada ang isasabit nila," Lacson said. (They are not even sure who between me and Senator Jinggoy Estrada to implicate.)
The Senate investigation on jueteng will resume on Monday but without Rodolfo "Bong" Pineda, an alleged jueteng operator in Central Luzon.
Senators Manuel "Lito" Lapid and Manuel Villar decided Friday to ignore a request of Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. to invite Pineda to the second hearing set on Monday.
Lapid earlier said he opted not to invite Pineda because the first witness, self-confessed jueteng operator Wilfredo Mayor, did not mention Pineda in the hearing last May 30.
Lapid also said Pineda's involvement in jueteng is only hearsay. The senator earlier admitted knowing Pineda and it was this remark that prompted Pimentel to seek the inhibition of Lapid from the Senate inquiry.
Based on the list issued by the committees on games and amusement chaired by Lapid and on public order and illegal drugs headed by Villar, those invited to the investigation on Monday are Mayor, Arthur Naguit alias Catoy, alleged jueteng bagman of presidential spokesman and Pampanga Representative Juan Miguel Arroyo; SPO1 Charlie Llasos; a certain Jojie; and Gener David alias Boy Tangkad.
Llasos is the alleged jueteng bagman of Albay Representative Carlos Imperial while Jojie is the alleged collector for Representative Jose Salceda. David allegedly collects jueteng payola for Manila-based journalists.
The committees also invited Rene Maglanque, former assistant secretary of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and Leo Katigbak, who allegedly accompanied Naguit when he collected payola for Congressman Arroyo in the Rembrandt Hotel in Quezon City,
Batangas Governor Armando Sanchez, an alleged jueteng operator, was also subpoenaed.
Local Government Secretary Angelo Reyes, National Police Chief Arturo Lomibao, former police regional director Victor Luga, and Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz were invited to again attend the hearing on Monday.
Another senator, Miriam Defensor-Santiago, insists the best way to end the jueteng issue is to craft a law legalizing it.
Santiago said the Senate investigation should concentrate on the legislative aspect of the jueteng issue and not on the criminal side.
"I have consistently maintained that the Senate and Congress should not overly concentrate on the criminal aspect because that is a judicial function," he added.
Santiago is asking other witnesses to come and testify before the Senate hearing to clarify things. (JPM/Sunnex Luzon)
(June 4, 2005 issue)
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