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Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Sandigan orders arrest of Perez, 2 others
MANILA -- The Sandiganbayan First Division issued late Monday afternoon an arrest warrant against former justice secretary Hernando Perez and two others over a graft and extortion case.
The case was filed by the Office of the Ombudsman last April 18 against Perez, his wife Rosario, and two business associates Ernest Escaler and Ramon Antonio Arceo Jr. over allegations that they extorted US$2 million from businessman and former Manila Representative Mark Jimenez in 2001.
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In an order signed by division chairman and Presiding Justice Diosdado Peralta, the anti-graft court also ordered the arrest of Perez's wife and Arceo.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG), the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), and the Quezon City Police District were ordered to implement the said arrest warrant.
The court, in issuing the arrest order, upheld the Office of the Ombudsman's finding of probable cause to prosecute the Perez couple and Arceo for violation of Section 3(b) of Republic Act (RA) 3019 otherwise known as the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
It also practically denied the Perez couple's request to defer the issuance of the warrant for their arrest.
The three accused, along with Escaler, were charged with conspiracy in demanding and receiving US$2 million from Jimenez, also known as Mario B. Crespo.
According to the ombudsman, the money was "in consideration of accused (Perez's) desisting from pressuring (Jimenez) to execute affidavits implicating target personalities involved in the plunder case against former President Joseph Estrada and in connection with the pending application of (Jimenez) for admission into the Witness Protection Program of the government."
The First Division set the bail at P30,000 in exchange for the temporary liberty of all the accused, except Escaler, who already posted bail last week.
Early Monday morning, the Perez couple filed an urgent manifestation informing various divisions of the anti-graft court about the filing of a second supplemental petition before the Supreme Court (SC), impleading the Sandiganbayan as among the respondents in the case for temporary restraining order (TRO) originally against the ombudsman alone.
In their petition with the SC, the Perez couple asked that a TRO or writ of preliminary injunction be issued against the Sandiganbayan.
The SC Third Division, however, deferred action on the couple's petition.
"After deliberating on the petition for certiorari, this Court, without necessarily giving due course thereto, resolves to require respondents to comment on the petition and on the application for the issuance of a TRO within 10 days from notice," the court ruled.
The respondents in the case were the Ombudsman, the Field Investigation Office, and Jimenez.
In his supplemental petition, Perez included the Sandiganbayan as a party in the suit that announced in open court on April 24 and 25 that proceedings will continue unless the SC issues preliminary restraints.
Perez's lawyer Marcial Balgos further claimed the Sandiganbayan acted with grave abuse of discretion when it said even if a TRO was issued by the SC, it would not be effective because the anti-graft court was not yet a party in the suit that the Perez couple filed with the SC.
Besides the graft case in the First Division, a robbery case was also filed against the Perez couple, Arceo and Escaler in connection with Jimenez's extortion charge.
The robbery case was raffled off to the anti-graft court's Second Division, chaired by Associate Justice Edilberto Sandoval.
Another graft charge and a case for falsification of public documents were also filed against Perez alone. The cases are now pending with the Third and Fourth Divisions.
Ombudsman Ma. Merceditas Gutierrez, who had served as one of Perez's undersecretaries at the Department of Justice (DOJ), approved the filing of the cases. (ECV/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Cebu. (April 29, 2008 issue)
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