NBI: Acsa may still face raps

Despite the dismissal of money laundering charges against Land Bank of the Philippines cashier Acsa Ramirez, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said yesterday she can still be charged once new evidence against her is discovered.

Ramirez, who blew the whistle on a multi-million peso tax fraud and whom the NBI accused as one of the perpetrators, was cleared by the Office of the Ombudsman Tuesday.

In Malacañang, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said the Palace has yet to decide whether President Arroyo will apologize to Ramirez after Mrs. Arroyo "unwittingly" pointed to the bank cashier as among the suspects in the tax diversion scam.

But the NBI insists that Ramirez could still be charged with the same crime for which she was cleared.

"Legally, the dismissal doesn’t preclude the filing in the future of a case if evidence warrants it. The investigation has not been terminated yet," said NBI assistant director Lolito Utitco.

"If in the future we can find evidence, a case shall be filed against Ramirez," he said.

The NBI included Ramirez in the list of Landbank officials charged for the diversion of P431 million in tax payments by nine large firms through the bank’s Binangonan, Rizal branch.

But the Office of the Ombudsman cleared Ramirez of any liability as the accounts involved in the money-laundering incident were opened a year before she joined the branch.

The anti-graft body also said that Ramirez made a report to the bank manager and the regional head "though she is not duty-bound to do so."

Asked whether the NBI will file a petition for reconsideration on the Ombudsman’s ruling, sources said the bureau is not discounting the possibility.

"It’s a possibility but we cannot give any further comment. All we can say is that the Ombudsman’s decision will not prejudice the other case we have filed," they told The STAR.

Meanwhile, the Land Bank of the Philippines Employees Association said that justice has finally been served where it is due.

"Acsa’s harrowing ordeal should serve notice to each and everyone of us to speak the truth and to stand by the truth regardless of the consequences because only the truth shall set us free," they said in a statement.

In Malacañang, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said yesterday that the Palace will decide whether or not an apology will be issued to Ramirez by the President –who unwittingly pointed to the bank cashier as among the suspects in the tax diversion scam –after the NBI completes its report on the case.

"We will allow the NBI to follow the legal process in this regard. A decision as to whether or not an apology will be extended to Ramirez will be made as soon as the process is completed," Bunye said. — With Jess Diaz