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Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Cuenco declares 'war' against Lims' counsel
By Katrina N. Tabanao
CEBU CITY -- Representative Antonio Cuenco declared “war” against lawyer Elias Espinoza and all lawyers defending businessmen Peter and Wellington Lim.
Cuenco made the statement after Espinoza questioned his proposal to the House committee on dangerous drugs to give congressional witness Bernard Liu a monthly allowance.
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Espinoza is the complainant in the case of importation of shabu against Liu.
The lawyer earlier said that giving P5,000 a month to Liu has no basis.
“Against gyud na si Espinoza kay nabantog nga abogado sa mga (because he is a known lawyer of the) drug lords,” said Cuenco in a radio dyLA interview.
When told that what he said could be libelous, the legislator said, “Sagdi lang (Never mind), I’m going to challenge him because he libeled me many times before. He should be disciplined.”
“I challenge all those lawyers defending the Lim brothers to come forward. I’ll do battle with all of them. I’m declaring a war because they are accusing me of doing something wrong. I challenge them to prove that the committee is wrong,” Cuenco said.
But lawyer Oliveros Kintanar said he will not dignify the challenge with an answer.
He said challenges only apply to children and not to people of the same caliber as them and Cuenco.
Cuenco said the committee has a witness protection program where witnesses can avail themselves of allowances.
Liu is one of the witnesses of the committee in their investigation against illegal drugs.
In August 2002, Liu and his co-worker Ananias Dy linked the brothers to the illegal drugs trade, an accusation the Lims denied.
No charges for drugs also reached the courts against the Lims.
Dy was gunned down in July last year as he was heading home.
Liu had testified that he had carried 40 kilos of shabu from Hong Kong to Cebu allegedly for the brothers.
Personal
That admission, however, became the basis for the justice department’s decision to charge Liu with importation of illegal drugs.
The case was dismissed after Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Fortunato de Gracia granted his demurrer to evidence, a pleading for the court to dismiss the case for lack of proof.
Cuenco said he already talked to House committee on dangerous drugs chairman Roque Ablan about the matter and the latter was open to the proposal.
He also said that if ever the committee will not give an allowance to Liu, he will get the money from his personal funds.
Cuenco also said that Espinoza should be prosecuted for filing the case against Liu.
He believes the lawyer has either criminal or civil liability for what he did.
The lawmaker said that if all witnesses will suffer the same fate as Liu, no one will come out in the open to divulge what they know.
Espinoza, for his part, said “it is a shame for a congressman to say that.”
The lawyer said Cuenco should know the law being a lawyer himself.
Espinoza explained that he cannot be prosecuted because the court in its order granting the demurrer to evidence did not say the complaint was malicious. The case was dismissed for lack of evidence. (Sun.Star Cebu)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Bacolod. (September 19, 2007 issue)
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