Ombudsman upholds Miriam's parliamentary immunity

MANILA, Philippines - The Office of the Ombudsman has upheld the parliamentary immunity of Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago against allegations that she called Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis “Chavit” Singson a “jueteng lord.”

Santiago said the anti-graft agency has dismissed the case filed by Singson questioning her privilege speech in which she made the remark.

“Senator Santiago is a member of the Senate and is thus beyond the disciplinary authority of the Office of the Ombudsman,” read the decision.

“A deeper evaluation of the complaint shows that the same should be dismissed outright for want of palpable merit.”

The order of dismissal in the case of Singson v. Defensor-Santiago was submitted on Oct. 15, 2010 by graft investigating officer Altesa Anioso.

It was approved by Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez on Dec. 29, 2010.

Santiago said the dismissal of the case Singson filed against her could be used as a precedent to dismiss the case filed by former defense secretary Angelo Reyes against Sen. Jinggoy Estrada.

The lawyer of Reyes is Bonifacio Alentajan, who was also the lawyer of Singson, she added.

Reyes filed graft charges against Estrada after former military budget officer George Rabusa accused Reyes of illegally receiving P50 million during a Senate Blue Ribbon committee hearing last week.

Santiago said over the weekend that senators would move to cite Reyes in contempt of the Senate for having testified falsely and evasively last Jan. 27.

Santiago said she, Estrada and Senators Antonio Trillanes IV and Francis Escudero also moved to cite Alentajan in contempt of the Senate.

“It is noteworthy that Alentajan always appears as counsel for certain rich and powerful clients, only after they have been criticized for corruption in a privilege speech in the Senate,” read the motion.

“He has recently lost all cases he lawyered in the Supreme Court, Comelec, and Office of the Ombudsman, which all upheld the doctrine of parliamentary immunity.”

The motion will be discussed during session today.