Former aide accuses Jamby of harassment

A former public relations officer of Sen. Jamby Madrigal urged the Senate ethics committee yesterday to investigate Madrigal’s allegedly continuous harassment of him and his family since he left her employ in May.

Peter Sing, who served as Madrigal’s public relations handler, said he kept his peace since resigning from the senator’s staff and faced the estafa charges filed by Madrigal against him.

Madrigal filed estafa charges against Sing before the Quezon City regional trial court over P256,000 that she said Sing failed to return and account for and which were intended for her projects, her spokesman Melchor Amado said.

Sing said he was forced to seek help from journalists because Madrigal has been harassing him and his family.

"I am now before you because the harassment has already affected my family," Sing told Senate reporters. "Since Thursday night last week, the night before a warrant for my arrest was issued by the Quezon City courts, a group of unidentified men was seen by my neighbors casing my house."

Sing said his neighbors told him that the 10 armed men they saw casing his house were even wearing identification cards of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

"We were able to confirm, though, that a certain Marine M/Sgt. Walter Tomas and retired Marine Rodrigo Tabula Bajesta were among my security detail over the weekend," he said. "The community in our neighborhood was getting alarmed and they even thought I was already a criminal."

Sing said he could stand all the harassment and bad-mouthing he has suffered at the hands of Madrigal and her European husband, Eric.

"What I cannot take is when the harassment is already affecting my mother, who is nervous and has been suffering from hypertension since the warrant of arrest against me was issued," he said. "I can no longer regularly give money for my mother’s medication. Giving her additional problems through the harassment that Senator Madrigal and her husband are employing against me is too much."

Sing said the harassment incidents and casing of his house have cause his mother and immediate family and household members sleepless nights.

"My two sisters, who are working abroad, called my mother at 3 a.m. Wednesday crying because they learned about my situation and that Miss Madrigal wants to have me jailed," he said. "The following day, my aunt called me up and told me to take care of myself."

According to Sing, police officers from the Central Police District (CPD) tried to serve the warrant for his arrest in front of his 10-year-old child.

"My child asked me why the police are arresting me," he said. "I kept myself in peace and observed professionalism despite the harassment and bad-mouthing that I am personally suffering from Senator Madrigal — but now that my family, especially my mother, is being affected, I will do everything and anything to protect my family."

Amado said Madrigal herself is the object of harassment and vilification by Sing. He said Sing has been vilifying Madrigal through the media and text messages to get even.

According to Amado, Madrigal has strictly followed due process. He added that Sing’s allegations that the senator is harassing him are merely a "squid tactic" to muddle the issue.