Laarni won’t appear at CIDG

Former actress Laarni Enriquez will not submit herself to the investigation being conducted by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in connection with the wiretapping controversy and illegal detention of an intelligence agent.

Instead, Enriquez sent her lawyer Rufus Rodriguez to coordinate with Senior Superintendent Asher Dolina, chief of the CIDG National Capital Region of the Philippine National Police, who is investigating allegations made by T/Sgt. Vidal Doble that he was paid P2 million to authenticate a purported wiretapped conversation between President Arroyo and an election official regarding poll fraud.

Doble claimed he was told the money had come from Enriquez.

"We’re going back (to Enriquez). We can’t answer this because we don’t know the charges against our client," said Rodriguez in a chance interview shortly after he met with Dolina.

The charges were based on the affidavit executed by Doble, the self-confessed wiretapper of the controversial telephone conversation, who claimed the Enriquez, a former mistress of ousted leader Joseph Estrada, was the source of the P2 million.

Rodriguez, former immigration commissioner during the shortlived administration of ousted leader Joseph Estrada, said he went to Dolina’s office to get a copy of Doble’s affidavit, which stated that the bribe was given to him by former National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) deputy director Samuel Ong in exchange for coming up with "scripted" tapes.

Enriquez was one of the seven individuals subpoenaed by the CIDG.

Estrada, with whom Enriquez has three children, defended the former starlet, saying it was all a plot by Malacañang to link him to the scandal and alleged destabilization efforts against the government.

For his part, Dolina referred to Republic Act 5750, an act providing for the qualification, selection and appointment of civilians by investigation agents of the CIDG, formerly Criminal Investigation Service (CIS) and defining their powers as peace officers.

Under Section 6 of RA 5750, the CIS has the power to issue subpoenas or call for the appearance of any person for the investigation or production of documents and other related matters.

If Enriquez insists on ignoring the CIDG subpoena, Dolina said they might ask the court to cite her for contempt.

As of press time, no formal charges had been filed against Enriquez.