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Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Graft, extortion charges pushed v. ex-justice chief
MANILA -- The Office of the Ombudsman recommended the filing of graft, extortion, and forgery charges against former Justice Secretary Hernando Perez in connection with the controversial Argentine power deal.
It said the evidence against the erstwhile Cabinet member could not be simply disregarded.
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Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, who was then a subordinate of Perez, approved the filing of the cases after investigators claimed bank documents showed the illegal acts of the former justice secretary.
Although some allies of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo welcomed the resolution issued by Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez as "a proof that Malacañang is actively campaigning against graft and corruption," members of the opposition could not discount the possibility that it is just for a show.
The cases will be filed this week at the Sandiganbayan against Perez, his wife, Rosario, his brother-in-law Ramon Arceo and business associate Ernest Escaler.
The cases were in connection with the Impsa deal, particularly the US$2 million money that the former justice secretary allegedly extorted from then Manila congressman Mark Jimenez (Mario Crespo in real life).
The ruling was released only on Monday although it was promulgated on Friday last week.
Government investigators concluded that there is evidence showing Perez's illegal acts.
On the charges of extortion against Perez, the Ombudsman said it finds that the former justice secretary, in conspiracy with Escaler, Arceo and Rosario Perez, took advantage of his position by demanding that Jimenez deliver the US$2 million in connection with the execution of affidavits.
Jimenez had accused Perez of demanding money in exchange for not anymore forcing the former congressman to execute damaging affidavits against certain individuals in the administration of former President Joseph Estrada.
During a privilege speech, then congressman Jimenez claimed that the former justice secretary extorted money from him during a meeting a few days after President Arroyo assumed the presidency in January 2001.
That meeting happened on the third week of 2001 and was followed by another one on February 13 of the same year where the act of extortion was alleged. That the meeting took place was not specifically denied by Perez.
Jimenez, who was also convicted of tax evasion in the US, claimed to have deposited US$2 million in a numbered account believed to be Perez's at the Coutts Bank in Hong Kong on February 23, 2001.
Records showed that Jimenez deposited US$2 million in beneficiary account HO133706 of Coutts Bank in Hong Kong, from Trade and Commerce Bank, Cayman Islands through the Chase Manhattan Bank in New York.
Bank documents provided by both Swiss and Hong Kong authorities, according to investigators, clearly established the transfer of funds from Escaler's HK Coutts Bank account to the Rosario and Arceo Swiss accounts.
Escaler, whom Perez reportedly conspired with being the initial transferee of the Jimenez fund, offered "no explanation to show that the transfer to his account was the outcome of a legitimate transaction with Jimenez."
The Ombudsman also said that "no specific denial was made that Jimenez, in accordance with the instructions of Escaler, did transmit the US$2 million to the account, and subsequently, Escaler transmitted the US$1.7 million to Arceo-Rosario and the US$250,000 to Arceo through a check or bank draft."
The Ombudsman took note of the initial declaration of the accused that the money deposited constituted the inheritance of Rosario and Arceo and the Perezes said in their joint counter-affidavit that the funds were proceeds of the sale, through a MOU, of their Batangas property Malvarosa Ventures Inc. to Escaler, which in fact was not notarized.
This, according to the Ombudsman, was a "mere private instrument" that did not prove at all the sale of Malvarosa.
The resolution issued by the Ombudsman prompted some administration congressmen to commend the brave act of Gutierrez.
Some members of the opposition in the House, however, are not discounting the possibility that such could be just part of a big show, especially now that the mid-term elections are fast approaching.
Party-list Representative Joel Villanueva of the Citizens' Battle Against Corruption (Cibac) questioned the motive and the timing of the release of the Perez case resolution.
House Deputy Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano said the Ombudsman should have resolved the matter long before when its motive and its timing would not be questioned.
Former ombudsman Simeon Marcelo had reportedly earlier resigned, allegedly due to pressure coming from Malacañang, over cases against Perez that linked the First Couple.
The First Couple was linked to the Impsa controversy when the President immediately approved the deal just a few days after she was installed to power.
The Impsa has supposed to rehabilitate the operation in the next eight years of the 750-megawatt Caliraya-Botocan-Kalayaan (CBK) power complex in Laguna. Perez in his legal opinion backed the Impsa deal.
Impsa reportedly did not pre-qualify to undertake the CBK project. Other issues raised against it included its not meeting the minimum technical and financial requirements and its lacking necessary legal documents required by the terms of reference. Despite this, the Arroyo administration pushed for it. (DBP/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Cebu. (January 9, 2007 issue)
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