Cuenco assures Liu of free legal service

Cebu City South District Rep. Antonio Cuenco yesterday assured drug smuggling whistleblower Bernard Liu of a lawyer for free after the latter was arrested the other day for alleged importation of illegal drugs.

Cuenco, vice chairman of the House committee on dangerous drugs, said the panel would pay for the lawyers hired by Liu. A Manila-based lawyer might be taken in also to handle the case up to the Supreme Court, especially now that the Regional Trial Court has not dismissed the case yet against Liu, despite the Justice Department's petition for such.

Cuenco said the committee would also bail him out also, in case RTC judge Fortunato de Gracia grant Liu his petition for bail.

Liu welcomed Cuenco's assurance for help although he admitted he has yet to talk with the congressman about it. He however lamented his present situation after he testified in the House about drug smuggling and pointed at the brothers Peter and Willington Lim as the people allegedly behind it.

Oliveros Kintanar, lawyers of the Lim brothers, vowed to oppose the petition for bail saying that the evidence against Liu has been very strong, especially the latter's admission that he smuggled illegal drugs from Hong Kong. "There is a voluntary admission by Liu. What evidence is stronger than (this)," Kintanar said.

Liu testified in a congressional investigation in 2002. He alleged that the Lim brothers, his employers then, were drug smugglers who brought him six times to Hong Kong where they got the illegal drugs to bring to the Philippines.

He said that what prompted him and the other whistleblower, the late Ananias Dy, to come out also was when the Senate hearing, conducted by Senator Panfilo Lacson, mentioned him as the Lim brothers' "henchman" to the Hong Kong Triad.

Liu's admission however caused his indictment of the charge for illegal importation of drugs, for which reason the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group arrested him last Tuesday.

"Ang akong panghinaut nga makatabang sa gobyerno nga atong masumpo ang illegal nga drugas. Kita'y mi-witness gigukod naman nuon ta. Makapatagam," Liu said, clarifying that it was not Cuenco who convinced him and Dy to testify, but they were the ones who approached the legislator about it.

Liu's admission was considered the body of the crime in this case, said Kintanar contending that the argument-the charges against Liu was weak because there has been no "corpus delicti" or body of the crime-was a misconception.

Cuenco, for his part, said that Liu's admission could not be used as evidence against him because it was done during a congressional investigation, which was considered privileged communication. The admission was covered by parliamentary immunity, making Liu free from getting indicted for such, said the congressman.

Kintanar countered that such immunity is not absolute, especially if the accusation is done with malice. He said Liu's testimony had malicious intent because the Lim brothers had fired from work Liu and Dy before, resulting in the two's filing of a labor case against the Lim's at the National Labor Relations Commission.

Kintanar said his client was very happy about the arrest of Liu, saying that justice for the Lim's has prevailed at last. The Lim brothers had even forgot about the case due to the prolonged delay in the arrest of Liu, said the lawyer.

Kintanar added that they would not oppose the other motion of the defense to detain Liu either at the National Bureau of Investigation or the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, and not at the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center for security reasons. The detention site does not matter at all for as long as Liu is detained, Kintanar said.

Liu revealed however that he and Dy met the day before the latter was killed. Dy narrated about unidentified men on board vehicles that kept on trailing him, and had advised even Liu never to be complacent of the situation. When asked who killed Dy, Liu only said he could not name the people responsible otherwise he would be indicted with another charge again. - Fred P. Languido and Flor Z. Perolina