Graft cases won’t die with her

Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo has directed his men to submit a "status report" on all the graft cases which slain Sultan Kudarat newspaper columnist Marlene Garcia Esperat had filed, giving assurances that his agency would act on them.

"Most likely these cases will not be dismissed," Marcelo told The STAR.

Unlike in murder cases where prosecutors depend on eyewitnesses’ accounts, he said cases of graft and malversation against government officials hold water with substantial documentary evidence.

Esperat, 45, a hard-hitting columnist for Midland Review, a local weekly paper, was shot in the head with a caliber .45 pistol inside her home in Tacurong City on the night of Maundy Thursday.

On orders of Director General Arturo Lomibao, Philippine National Police chief, the PNP Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management (DIDM) summoned Superintendent Willie Dangane, General Santos City police chief, to shed light into the Esperat murder.

Esperat’s husband, George, was said to have mentioned that Dangane, together with a former congressman and a mayor, was a "mortal enemy" of his wife.

But Chief Superintendent Marcelo Ele Jr., DIDM director, said the summons to Dangane does not necessarily mean that he is considered a suspect.

Dangane has denied having any hand in the killing. He was quoted as saying, "I am bothered by George Esperat’s statement implicating (me) in the killing. Maybe it is her husband who should be investigated."

Before becoming a newspaper columnist, Esperat was a resident ombudsman of the Department of Agriculture; she quit in 2004.

Marcelo said he would check the status of the graft cases which Esperat had filed against certain officials. He refused to identify the respondents, saying he still has to get the complete list.

Employees of the Office of the Ombudsman remember Esperat as a frequent visitor to the different departments of their main office in Quezon City, tirelessly following up the cases she had filed.

"She had an audience here. She was very fond of sharing stories," said lawyer Marlyn Galvez, head of the docket office.

"Binubulabog kami niyan lahat dito. Kilalang-kilala siya dito. Character talaga iyan (She was always on our backs. She was well-known here. She was really a character)," Galvez said. — With reports from Ramil Bajo, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Mike Frialde, Benjie Villa and Eva Visperas