Drilon: Jueteng probe to resume next week

The Senate investigation into the jueteng protection scandal was only postponed and will continue next week, Senate President Franklin Drilon assured the public yesterday.

"Hindi itinigil ang imbestigasyon. Matutuloy ito sa Hunyo 24 (We are not terminating the investigation. It will continue on June 24)," Drilon said in an interview over dzMM radio.

The Senate president was reacting to questions arising over Sen. Manuel Villar’s announcement last Friday that the jueteng hearings, allegedly involving President Arroyo’s family, would be put on hold.

"The committees were just given at least a week to rest and to study the course of the investigation," Drilon said.

He also dispelled rumors that the ongoing investigation was heading toward the filing of impeachment charges against the President.

"The impeachment (case) will come from the House, not from us," Drilon clarified.

On Friday, Villar said that "too much information" had been offered during testimony, and it needed to be processed before the hearing could proceed. Last Thursday’s appearance by jueteng witness Sandra Cam was the final testimony before the break.

Cam had linked presidential son and Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel "Mikey" Arroyo and the President’s brother-in-law Negros Occidental Rep. Ignacio "Iggy" Arroyo to the racket syndicates of the illegal numbers game.

Villar, who chairs the committee on public order, is leading the jueteng inquiry along with Sen. Lito Lapid, Senate committee on games and amusement head.

Also Friday, Villar said the Senate would next summon retired Chief Superintendent Restituto Mosqueda, former chief of the Bicol Region police, when hearings resume on June 24.

Cam earlier testified that she worked for Mosqueda in receiving and distributing jueteng collections from the provinces of Albay, Sorsogon, Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur.

Villar said the committee would also consider inviting Mikey and Iggy to the hearings. He added, however, that the two "would be most welcome to appear" before the Senate hearings whenever they wished.

Administration Sen. Francis Pangilinan had urged the public order and games and amusement committees to stop the jueteng inquiry.

Pangilinan said the two committees should instead recommend a formal investigation into the alleged jueteng involvement of the two Arroyos before the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Office of the Ombudsman.

"There is no attempt to shield anyone. To terminate the Senate hearings will not preclude the Ombudsman or the DOJ from digging deeper and looking at the involvement of other personalities," he said in an interview with the ABS-CBN News Channel aired last week.

He added that Lapid and Villar could also recommend the filing of appropriate charges.

Pangilinan had opposed the holding of Senate hearings on jueteng, saying it was not the proper forum to prove the guilt or innocence of anyone linked to illegal gambling.

Cam earlier testified before the Senate that she gave P1 million jueteng payola to Mosqueda, money that was allegedly funneled to the two Arroyos.

She also showed bank statements allegedly documenting the alleged jueteng deposits to her two Metrobank accounts.

Cam added that she personally gave P500,000 to Mikey and another P400,000 to Iggy Arroyo inside the House of Representatives building in December.

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz earlier said Cam was the fourth of seven witnesses he had lined up for the Senate hearings. He added that another witness, a government official, would testify next.

Mikey has already filed libel charges against Cam before Pampanga provincial prosecutor Bienvenido Bacani.

In his affidavit, Arroyo denied that Cam could have entered the halls of Congress to supposedly deliver the money last December without being monitored by security cameras. He claimed Cam was lying.

His uncle also disputed Cam’s claim that he was wearing a barong when he met her inside his office last December. He said he usually wore a suit in December because of the cool weather.

In reaction to the jueteng controversy involving her family, the President last week ordered the DOJ to look into fresh allegations that her son and brother-in-law received P500,000 monthly in jueteng payoffs.

"Nobody in my family or among my kin is above the law, and no investigator or prosecutor should fear to uphold the law against them. I shall stand for justice no matter who gets hurt," the President said in a statement.

Mrs. Arroyo added: "In view of allegations directly linking my son and brother-in-law to jueteng payoffs, I order the (DOJ) to immediately conduct a full and transparent investigation, and file corresponding charges as warranted."