Ping won't allow 'hearsay' of Sta. Isabel's wife in Senate probe

MANILA, Philippines -- Sen. Panfilo "Ping" Lacson will not let the wife of alleged kidnap-slay mastermind SPO3 Ricky Sta. Isabel testify in the Senate hearing into the case on Thursday.

The Senate committee on public order chair said in a radio interview Wednesday that the panel will not listen to the "hearsay" of Jinky Sta. Isabel, who insists that her husband was just a fall guy in the murder of Korean businessman Jee Ick Joo.

"'Yung asawa napakalaki ng pakialam," Lacson told dzMM. "Actually, nakikiusap pa kung pwedeng dumalo. Hindi ko pinayagan kasi puro hearsay ang kanyang ipapahayag."

Jinky tagged her husband's superiors as the perpetrators of Jee's abduction and eventual murder. She said that he had evidence, including closed-circuit television camera footage.

She said there was a planned cover-up operation to clean the name of SPO3 Sta. Isabel but her husband refused to join since he is innocent.

The wife of the primary suspect also has what she claims is a recorded phone conversation between her husband and Anti-Illegal Drugs Group acting chief Superintendent Raphael Dumlao.

Lacson also hit the recorded conversation as it violates the Anti-Wiretapping Law, which penalizes recording phone conversations without the other party's knowledge and consent unless ordered by a court.

"Baka madamay pa kami sa wiretapping," the senator said.

The Senate inquiry will look into the alleged "tokhang for ransom" of rogue members of the Philippine National Police. Jee was abducted from his residence in Angeles, Pampanga on Oct. 18, 2016.

PNP Director General Ronald Dela Rosa said last week, citing testimony from other police officers impilcated in the cases, that Jee was killed inside Camp Crame the day he was abducted. The businessman's death did not stop the suspects from demanding ransom from Jee's wife, who believed he was still alive.

Expected to attend the hearing are officials of PNP, PNP-Anti-Kidnapping Group, National Bureau of Investigation and Jee's widow Choi Kyung Jin.