Lawyers won’t back out from PEA case

Complainants in the plunder case filed against officials of the Public Estates Authority (PEA) for the alleged overpricing of the President Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard (PDMB) yesterday dismissed the report that some of their lawyers are threatening to withdraw from the case.

"It’s just a disinformation campaign and it’s not hard to explain whom it came from," Carol Araullo, a convenor of PlunderWatch, told The STAR in a phone interview. PlunderWatch is one of 15 non-government organizations (NGOs) that filed the plunder case and one of the groups that insist on including Malacañang officials in the amended complaint, which several lawyers, including those from the Equal Justice for All (E-just), opposed.

The others who support PlunderWatch’s stand are the Council of Philippine Affairs (COPA) led by Pastor "Boy" Saycon and Bayan led by Teddy Casiño.

A statement sent to The STAR claimed that several lawyers, led by E-just spokesman Leonard de Vera, threatened to withdraw from the plunder complaint should the other complainants insist on including Malacañang officials.

Moreover, it said that "interest groups" are supposedly using the PDMB issue as a "springboard" for a demolition job against some officials of the Arroyo administration, particularly Finance Secretary Jose Isidro Camacho, recently fired economic planning secretary Dante Canlas and former executive secretary Avelino Cruz.

Rachel Pastores, a lawyer from the Public Interest Law Center (PILC) affirmed that "there are no major disagreements among the lawyers although there are discussions about the supplemental complaint."

She emphasized that the lawyers remain "intact and committed to seek justice and ensure that the respondents are prosecuted."

The complainants are set on filing the amended complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman tomorrow.