Reyes hurdles first round of CA hearings

Interior and Local Government Secretary Angelo Reyes hurdled the first round of hearings on his confirmation before the Commission on Appointments (CA) yesterday by disavowing accusations of murder against him.

Sen. Rodolfo Biazon, chairman of the Senate committee on national defense, said CA members decided to disregard the criminal accusations against Reyes, citing an "emerging" trend of a conspiracy to implicate the former general and prevent him from getting confirmation on his appointment.

Biazon noted the testimonies of two witnesses — Christopher Elizalde and Ma. Rosalie Ramoso — who had accused Reyes of murder were "incoherent," prompting lawmakers to disregard their statements and suspend the hearings until today.

"Based on the testimonies of the first two witnesses, there seems to be apparently surfacing and emerging a consensus that these two witnesses might have been involved in a conspiracy because of most of the questions raised," he said.

The CA suspended the hearings after the third witness, retired Col. Cristobal Irlanda, was introduced. The second hearing was set for 9:30 a.m. today.

"There are some members who had manifested reservations about asking more questions, not only of the complainants against the nominee, but to the nominee himself. We have suspended the hearing today and we will resume tomorrow," Biazon said.

Elizalde, Ramoso and Irlanda made up the first batch of witnesses who opposed Reyes’ appointment. Scheduled for grilling today are Betty Arciaga, Tricia Gutierrez, acting national president of the National Labor Union David Diwa and retired Brig. Gen. Salvador Flores.

During the hearing, Reyes also voiced his concern that the two witnesses were part of an "organized crime" conspiracy with a mission to discredit his appointment as DILG chief.

Reyes maintained afterwards that the accusations had no basis.

Being a victim of wrongful accusations, Reyes said, "is part of the job" of any person working for the government. "People subject you to a demolition job, character assassination. That goes with public service so I will accept that. We’ll find out," he said, vowing that he won’t allow the alleged conspirators to stop his confirmation as DILG secretary.

"Obviously, someone is orchestrating and wanting me not to be confirmed… Until you are confirmed, you are not confirmed," Reyes said.

Yesterday’s hearings were the third time that Reyes was grilled by the CA on his appointment as DILG chief.

Reyes was technically bypassed last December and before the Holy Week this year when Congress adjourned sessions for regular vacation breaks.

There were speculations that some of the witnesses who surfaced to oppose the confirmation were part of a bigger plot to discredit Reyes.

Lawmakers sensed the trend after the first witness, Elizalde, failed to substantiate his sworn statement during the CA hearing.

Clad in orange prison shirt and with handcuffs, Elizalde repeatedly replied, "Hindi ko po alam (I don’t know)" when asked why he had appeared before the hearing.

Elizalde also claimed he was not aware of the contents of the sworn statement he purportedly signed and submitted to the CA secretariat which contained the allegations questioning the integrity of Reyes as a public official.

Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, for his part, noted that Elizalde’s affidavit was written in excellent "English better than mine," suspecting that a "legal mind" was behind Elizalde’s accusations.

Elizalde, a man convicted for frustrated murder and car theft, is serving eight to 14 years of jail term at the maximum security facility of the National Bilibid Prisons in Muntinlupa City.

Elizalde claimed he was merely brought in by jail escorts to the Senate premises without being told what he was supposed to do.

"Somebody visited me at my cell and let me sign documents that I don’t know about and I don’t even understand (them)," Elizalde said in Filipino.

Ramoso, a native of Iloilo, said she was against the confirmation based on her belief that Reyes was behind the murder of his brother Rogelio who was killed in a shootout with police last Dec. 31 in Laguna.

During cross-examination, Sen. Richard Gordon assessed Ramoso’s statements and claimed they were all based on hearsay.

"She based her affidavit on what her brother told him," he said.

Gordon, along with committee members Sen. Manuel Roxas II and Ilocos Norte Rep. Imee Marcos agreed that Ramoso failed to substantiate her claims that Reyes had a hand in the killing of her brother.

She also failed to link Reyes to the killing of Lilia Diaz, an executive of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), on Sept. 9, 2003.

Lawmakers noted that Reyes had not yet assumed the post as DILG chief at the time. Ramoso linked Reyes and some police officials to the assassination of Diaz the following month.

Reyes told the CA members that the Ramoso case had been dismissed by the Ombudsman.

Marcos, for her part, pointed out two cases filed separately by Ramoso’s sister and his wife before the Office of the Ombudsman were still pending.

Only the case filed by Ramoso’s wife remained at the preliminary investigation stage, Marcos said.