Abalos camp denies bribery rap vs Mupas

MANILA, Philippines - Former elections chairman Benjamin Abalos and his camp did not accuse Pasay City Judge Jesus Mupas of bribery, his lawyer said yesterday.

In a statement, lawyer Brigido Dulay said they only asked Mupas, of the city’s regional trial court branch 112, to inhibit because two lawyers claiming to be the judge’s emissaries had demanded P100 million from Abalos for his exoneration from the electoral sabotage case.

“We have no way of confirming the claims of the alleged emissaries so we opted to ask Judge Mupas to inhibit from the case to dispel any doubts or suspicions,” said Dulay.

Dulay said the court has no basis to cite Abalos and him for contempt.

“We did not accuse Judge Mupas of anything,” he said.

“My client only wants to make sure that his case will be heard fairly and impartially.”

Last Friday, Dulay said two lawyers – Jojo Desiderio and a certain attorney Mercado – separately demanded money from Abalos days before Mupas ordered his arrest.

The hearing was supposed to tackle Abalos’ petition for bail and house arrest, when Dulay filed an urgent motion for Mupas’ inhibition.

Abalos, who took the stand, said the lawyers sought separate meetings at Dusit and Legend hotels to discuss how they could help him get a favorable decision from the court.

He rejected the offer, Abalos added.

Mupas, who denied knowing the lawyers, gave Dulay until today to show cause why he and Abalos should not be citied for contempt for “malicious allegations.”

Dulay had asked the court to order the management of the two hotels to submit their CCTV footage so they can identify the two lawyers who tried to negotiate for the P100-million payoff, but the judge has yet to make a ruling.

Abalos, 77, was ordered arrested last Tuesday. He is now detained at the Southern Police District headquarters.