DOJ chief says he won’t inhibit self from jueteng probe

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez declared yesterday he will still preside over the panel investigating the alleged involvement of some members of the First Family in jueteng payoffs.

Gonzalez made the statement amid calls from several lawmakers that he inhibit himself from presiding over the five-man panel tasked to investigate allegations made against First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo and his son, Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel "Mikey" Arroyo.

The allegations prompted President Arroyo to order a five-man team from the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate claims that some members of her family and officials were receiving monthly bribes from jueteng operators.

Lawmakers called on Gonzalez to refrain from presiding over the investigating panel after he had declared the witnesses presented before the Senate body liable for charges of libel and perjury in their testimonies.

Gonzalez pointed out it was the President who gave the order to conduct the investigation.

"My boss is the President. So I will just wait (to hear) what the President says," he said.

Gonzalez emphasized that he was merely presiding over the investigating panel.

"Anybody can move for an inhibition. Even the courts. But in this particular case, I’m not the only one investigating... This is a panel. So, if anybody doubts my probity, there are four others to proceed for this panel. They can always check on what we are doing," he said.

Gonzalez said the warning he gave the witnesses before the Senate was merely a reminder of what the law could have in store for them.

He denied trying to "intimidate" the witnesses and claimed he was merely citing the law.

"They (the lawmakers) think I’m threatening to file cases myself. I never said that. We do not initiate cases by ourselves. When somebody files a case, then that is the time when we will entertain it," Gonzalez said.

He also lashed back at critics who accused him of being biased in favor of the Arroyos.

"What have I prejudged? I have not prejudged anybody. Why don’t you compare the kinds of witnesses that we have invited to the ones in the Senate. We have invited governors, mayors and generals. That is the quality of the witnesses that we have invited," he said.

Gonzalez said he had already sent a letter to Senate President Franklin Drilon explaining his position on accusations that he was intimidating the witnesses.

He told Drilon that the House investigation into the jueteng issue would continue separate from the Senate inquiry.

Drilon and opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson have also expressed doubts about the credibility of Gonzalez presiding over the panel.

Both senators claimed Gonzalez had been trying to threaten the witnesses.

"He should inhibit himself because he keeps on threatening witnesses and potential witnesses. Second, he has prejudged the testimony given by the first witness, (Wilfredo) Boy Mayor, and the three (people he implicated) also filed charges," Lacson said.

Lacson played up the possibility that Gonzalez might not get his confirmation from the lawmakers comprising the Commission on Appointments next week.

Lacson said Mayor or principal jueteng whistle-blower Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz might even come forward as opponents of Gonzalez’s confirmation.

‘Starting Point’

Reiterating his view that Mayor was not entitled to immunity from suit in presenting "hearsay" evidence before the Senate, Gonzalez nevertheless said his testimony was a good start to a proper investigation.

"It (Mayor’s testimony) is second-hand information, but it is a starting point," Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez assured Mayor that the government would not initiate any moves to charge the witness during the duration of the Senate hearing.

He expressed the possibility that Mayor could be placed under the witness protection program should any other evidence prove that he told the truth.

"Mayor can be assured he will not be charged during the hearings. After all, if he can prove what he is talking about, eh di talagang state witness siya (then he becomes a state witness)," Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez noted Mayor "is still under the custody of the Senate" and said the DOJ "will respect the Senate as a co-equal body of the executive."

But Gonzalez reiterated that Mayor could be held criminally liable for admitting to being a former jueteng operator, which carries a penalty of 14 years imprisonment.

He can be "exempted from liability" if Mayor prove his allegations, Gonzalez said."In my view, the bribe taker is more guilty, the payola receiver is more guilty because there is graft and corruption there."

Gonzalez agreed with the observations made by Lacson that jueteng is inherently illegal.

He said "if the (jueteng) protector is a government official and they received (payoffs), under PD (Presidential Decree) 749, the bribe giver is exempt from liability."

Even though the government has no immediate plans to charge Mayor, Gonzalez said they cannot prevent anyone from filing a case against the self-confessed jueteng operator implicated by his own testimony before the Senate.

During the Senate inquiry, Mayor named several people allegedly receiving monthly payoffs from gambling lords.

Prominent among them were presidential son and congressman Arroyo and two other congressmen from Bicol. He also named Philippine National Police chief Director General Arturo Lomibao as one police official who was on the take.

Mayor likewise tagged three friends of Arroyo as the alleged bagmen for the Pampanga lawmaker.

The three alleged bagmen, one of them a prominent stockbroker, responded by filing libel suits against Mayor before the DOJ on Wednesday.

Davao City Rep. Prospero Nograles noted there are constitutional provisions ensuring innocent persons the right to redress from injury. He said this right takes precedence over any immunity that can be afforded by Congress in the course of its investigation.

Nograles also said the proceedings in the Senate probe on jueteng "would almost certainly be imbued with political color."

He said the revelations unearthed by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and testimonies by Mayor’s associates from Albay had now focused on the questionable nature of his character.

The Credibility Problem

Two alleged jueteng bagmen from Albay surfaced yesterday and claimed Mayor was merely a "facilitator" for the illegal numbers game.

Self-confessed bagmen Rizalino Serilla and Nante Bodino told NBI Director Reynaldo Wycoco that Mayor did not even know how much was being paid to the police and local officials.

Both men claimed to be jueteng fixers in the province of Albay.

Serilla said Mayor was a fixer just like them, not an operator as he had claimed. He said they had known each other since 1992 and that Mayor was not privy to the list of supposed beneficiaries.

As fixers, Serilla said they were entrusted to look for people who would be interested in setting up jueteng operations in a particular locality. They would only know the administrator but not the financier.

Serilla said that, as part of the arrangement, they received one percent of the daily gross of the jueteng operations.

Both claimed they had been angered by Mayor’s testimony before the Senate, which they branded as "all lies."

Serilla claimed a lawmaker, whom he declined to identify, paid Mayor up to P5 million to make his disclosures. "Before I left Albay, my lawyer advised me not to name-drop anybody."

Wycoco said Serilla and Bodino opted to keep the identity of the lawmaker a secret for now.

"At least at the Senate, they would have a certain degree of immunity. They are very much willing to appear in a hearing," Wycoco said.

Serilla added Mayor is now bankrupt after losing heavily in casinos.

Because of his gambling debts, Mayor was forced to mortgage his house and lot but these were eventually lost as well, Serilla said.

When Mayor sought political office, he ran as an independent candidate under the opposition banner but was later disqualified because of a prior conviction for a crime involving moral turpitude.

Wycoco said they verified the allegations before the Commission on Elections and learned that the election case referred to existed. He added Mayor also faced a string of estafa (corruption) cases.

The two witnesses admitted they were unaware that their admission could be used against them.

Serilla, for his part, merely shrugged off the implications of their statements against Mayor and their admission to being jueteng fixers.

Wycoco explained they invited the two witnesses to Manila following allegations by Lacson that the NBI had picked four men in Albay to be used in a demolition job against Mayor.

Of the four witnesses, only two volunteered to show up, Wycoco said.

But Wycoco denied the NBI had searched for the witnesses. — With Ding Cervantes, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Evelyn Macairan