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Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Perez breaks silence on graft charges
MANILA -- Former justice secretary Hernando Perez broke his silence and threw serious accusations at the Office of the Ombudsman shortly after Sandiganbayan Second Division postponed his arraignment on a robbery case Monday.
During his first public appearance Monday, since the Ombudsman filed four criminal charges against him, his wife, and two others, Perez accused the Ombudsman of violating his constitutional right to a speedy trial.
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"My wife and I have suffered for so long because of this case. It took the Office of the Ombudsman a record time of six years before they could complete the preliminary investigation," Perez said in a press conference.
The former justice chief alleged that the Ombudsman sat on his case for nothing.
"I suspect that the Ombudsman did so, to cover up other important cases pending before her," Perez said, referring to Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez.
Perez recalled that the first time Gutierrez announced that her office will issue the resolution on the extortion complaint filed by former Manila congressman Mark Jimenez, it was the time when the anti-graft body was investigating Commission on Elections (Comelec) officials involved in the automated counting machines mess.
He said there was also an issue then about the release of four US Marines who were convicted in the Subic rape case into the United States custody.
"If you will recall the circumstances of the filing of the case, the first time the resolution was handed down was when there was an issue about the investigation of the Comelec. There was (also) an issue about the release of the Americans. Then all of a sudden, Nani Perez was used as a deodorant," Perez said.
He continued: "Now there are other pending issues. When I thought the case would have been dismissed already because the sole witness had already withdrawn his case, yet the Ombudsman proceeded," he continued.
"Why am I again being used as a deodorant?" he asked.
Malacañang meantime denied Perez's allegations.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said the investigation on Perez' alleged involvement in the Impsa bribe deal started a long time ago, although the results are coming out only now.
The anti-graft court's Second Division -- composed of its chairman Senior Associate Justice Edilberto Sandoval and members Associate Justices Teresita Diaz Baldos and Samuel Martires -- postponed the arraignment of Perez and three others to May 23.
The postponement was due to the absence of Perez's wife, Rosario, who, according to her lawyer, was undergoing treatment for lymph node cancer.
Defense lawyer Senen Agustin de Santos presented to court a copy of the medical certification issued by her attending physician.
During the press conference, Perez told reporters that he would ask permission from his wife's doctor to allow her to attend their arraignment on May 23 in case the Supreme Court (SC) will not issue a restraining order against the Sandiganbayan.
"I will seek permission from the doctor to allow her even in mask, even without hair, to appear before the arraignment on the twenty-third (May 23)," Perez said.
Perez, his wife, brother-in-law Ramon Arceo Jr. and business associate Ernest Escaler were charged with robbery for allegedly extorting US$2 million from Jimenez after the former Manila congressman refused to execute affidavits implicating cronies of former President Joseph Estrada in a plunder case filed against the ousted leader in 2001.
The Ombudsman alleged that the four accused "intimated" and "threatened" Jimenez of "having him arrested and incarcerated in a city jail where he will die of boils with hardened criminals and drug addicts."
Besides robbery, Perez is also facing two counts of graft and a case for falsification of public documents before various divisions of the Sandiganbayan. (JMR/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Baguio. (May 6, 2008 issue)
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