|
Saturday, June 25, 2005
Ex-cop, jueteng 'bagwoman' exchange accusations
MANILA -- Two persons invited by the Senate to shed light on allegations of illegal gambling payoffs against members of the First Family traded insults during the continuation of the hearing Friday.
Retired police official Restituto Mosqueda called his accuser, self-confessed jueteng bagwoman Sandra Cam, a "liar and a notorious character" who in turn accused him of being a "congenital liar".
It was the first time the two protagonists faced each other after Cam accused the retired police official early this month of receiving jueteng protection money and facilitating the payment of jueteng payoffs to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's son, Pampanga Representative Juan Miguel Arroyo, and her brother-in-law Representative Ignacio "Iggy" Arroyo.
When he testified before the Senate, Mosqueda asked the Senate a "qualified immunity" and it was granted to him.
During the hearing, Cam said Mosqueda received payola from jueteng operations in the Bicol Region. She also said she was once asked by Mosqueda to bring payola to the Arroyo congressmen.
She presented financial documents covering jueteng transactions between him and her.
Mosqueda vehemently denied the accusations and called Cam "a liar and a notorious character who is involved allegedly in illegal recruitment, estafa and even on drugs."
"She definitely has no credibility at all. Therefore, Sandra Cam's testimony cannot be given credence because for testimony to be accorded weight, it must not only be credible, but must also come from credible witness," Mosqueda said.
Mosqueda denied Cam's claim that she is close to his family to the point that she was allowed to buy Isuzu DMAX and Toyota Revo for them.
Mosqueda denied involvement in jueteng operations and said he did not ask Cam to deliver money to the President's son and brother-in-law at the House of Representatives.
He said he even did his best to eradicate jueteng in the Bicol Region during his stint as chief of the Police Regional Office (PRO) 5.
Although he admitted he knows the self-confessed jueteng "baglady", Mosqueda said it was his wife who was close to Cam.
He said Cam first got irritated when he scolded and banned her from his office for "using his name in jueteng operations and other illegal activities."
Mosqueda also denied conspiring with the Arroyos in covering up the multimillion-peso Jose Pidal bank account.
Cam said Mosqueda admitted to her that he helped Iggy practice the signature of First Gentleman Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo on the Pidal account to make it appear that the signature belonged to him. Mosquedo formerly headed the National Police Crime Laboratory.
To this, Mosqueda said: "I categorically denied that there ever occurred an incident that Congressman Iggy Arroyo practiced the signature. It never happened and I never said anything to that effect. Again, the same would be inspected and tested by a technical experts."
Other highlights of the Senate hearing are:
* Contrary to Cam's claim that she won as a provincial legislator in the Bicol region in the 2002 elections, Mosqueda showed a certification from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) stating she did not get elected to any local position in the elections that year. This prompted Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago to ask the Senate committees looking into the jueteng issue to subpoena the election official who issued the certification.
* Cam said she is willing to have her bank accounts in Batangas opened for scrutiny by the senators to prove they were used as depositories for jueteng proceeds. She dared Mosqueda to do the same.
Mosqueda, for his part, admitted that Cam indeed deposited money in his account not as jueteng payola but as payment for loans she incurred from his wife.
Asked by the senators how much money did his wife lend to Cam, Mosquedo said he could not recall the exact amount.
Senator Ma. Ana Consuelo "Jamby" Madrigal said Mosqueda might have been suffering from amnesia if could not recall the amount his wife lent to Cam.
Mosqueda's assets and properties came under question during the hearing.
Opposition senators pressed Mosqueda on properties he allegedly acquired from jueteng operations. The retired police official was asked to declare his bank accounts but he refused and invoked his right to privacy.
Mosqueda said he retired from a police service a poor man but when Senator Jose "Jinggoy" Estrada asked him why he and his wife could afford to lend Cam P600,000 if he is a poor, he could not answer.
Estrada asked Mosqueda to submit to the committee his Statements of Assets and Liabilities (SAL) and tax declarations.
* Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz presented Antonio Batacan, a native of Camarines Sur, who admitted being a jueteng manager.
Batacan confirmed knowing Luis Maralit and Tomas Rañola, who Cam and self-confessed jueteng personality Richard Garcia, had identified as jueteng financiers. Batacan said Maralit and Rañola were his financiers also.
Senator Miriam Santiago said since there is no witness who has directly implicated President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to jueteng operations or that she benefited from it, the two Senate committees should terminate its inquiry on jueteng.
Archbishop Cruz failed to present a witness who he earlier claimed would have devastating testimony against the Arroyo family.
"Hindi niya nakumbinsi ang witness, umurong ang tao dahil na rin siguro sa mga (He was unable to convince the witness, he backed probably because of) threats. So far, we have no direct personal account of the involvement of President Arroyo with respect to payola from jueteng," Santiago said.
Santiago said the hearing should be stopped because it is just a waste of time.
"In my case, privately and personally I prefer this to be finished, if there is no eye witness against the President, which is really the focus of the investigation," she added.
Senator Alfredo Lim, for his part, assailed the alleged harassment and threats against Archbishop Cruz, Cam and other jueteng witnesses for the past two weeks. (JPM/JFF/Sunnex)
(June 25, 2005 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here. |
|
|
|
[return to top]
[home]
|
|
Cebu leaders declare legislator 'persona non grata'