What spooked Jimenez?

Why did he change his mind?

Manila Rep. Mark Jimenez said he decided to stick it out in the Philippines and fight extradition to the United States after being convinced that his nemesis, Hernando Perez, would not be fired as secretary of justice. Perez is on a month-long leave until Dec. 27.

But there were also speculations yesterday that Jimenez got cold feet amid reports that the Americans wanted to question him about drug trafficking in South America.

Since his return to the Philippines during the Estrada administration, Jimenez has been hounded by such reports, although he maintains that he made his fortune selling computer hardware in South America. Perez has dropped hints about the drug links.

The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), in the July-September 1999 issue of its i magazine, quoted an unnamed official of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) as saying that "the US government wants Jimenez for another purpose and the Florida court indictment is only a way to have him under their custody."

The PCIJ report goes on: "The official says US authorities are really after illegal drug operators in Latin America and believe Jimenez has a lot to tell them.

"They are not saying that he engaged in illegal drug trafficking," the DFA official says. "But he may have dealt with some of those active in the illicit trade. They think he knows a lot about it." The official says the charges (related to the extradition) could be dropped if Jimenez agrees "to sing the ballad of the drug lords in Latin America."

"The mention of this topic was one of the few times that Jimenez reacted strongly during his two encounters with i . At the time, he was in bed, with a tube up a nostril. The tube was connected to an oxygen tank. (His wife said it was ëhis heartí that was the problem, although Jimenez would later feast on Spanish sausages with a side of Caesar’s salad.) When the illegal drugs question came, Jimenez became livid. "Lies," he hissed. Then he yanked the tube out of his nostril, got out of bed and went to the toilet."

In the extradition request of the US State Department, which was received by the DFA in June 1999, a company owned by Jimenez, called FTI, was accused of defrauding another firm called Quantum of $600,000.

In 1995 and 1996, according to the request, Jimenez moved up to $5 million of FTI money out of the United States, declaring the money as advertising expenses in FTIís tax return. He did not declare the money as personal income in his own tax return, thus evading taxes of about $3.5 million, according to the extradition request.

The request further states: "Starting in 1994, Jimenez contributed almost $40,000 to the campaigns of President Clinton, Vice President Al Gore and five Democrat senators, namely Edward M. Kennedy, Thomas Strickland, Ann Henry, Roger Bedford and Robert Torricelli. To evade the limits for campaign contribution, Jimenez got "straw donors" and later reimbursed them, first through the FTI payroll, and then in cash obtained through his own personal checking account. Jimenez thus caused the treasurer for each of the involved candidateís campaigns to file false reports with the Federal Election Commission."

Jimenez’s sympathizers in the House of Representatives have said that the offenses carry minor penalties. When he announced his "voluntary departure," Jimenez also vowed to return to the Philippines to continue serving his constituents.