Court nixes plea of ex-mayor

SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union — The city prosecutor’s office here denied the petition of former Agoo town mayor Pablo Olarte asking the court to drop the illegal recruitment case filed against him and his business partner. Based on a resolution prepared by Merly Cara-Espinosa, assistant provincial prosecutor, and approved by Gloria Catbagan, city prosecutor, the motion for reconsideration of Olarte and his partner, Merlins Chen, a Canadian national, was denied because there is probable cause to charge them with one count each of estafa and illegal recruitment.

"The undersigned (prosecutor) is not convinced by the allegations of the respondent (Olarte) that the claims of the complainant are completely specious, self-serving as well as false and do not establish any probable cause. The complainant positively identified the respondent that it was he who had promised her work in Canada as caregiver thus she paid him the necessary fees," the resolution reads.

Florence Daligues, a resident of San Gabriel, La Union, filed the complaint on April this year against Olarte and Chen after they failed to provide her employment in Canada. Daligues said Olarte allegedly demanded P9,900 for his services while Chen demanded P105,950 as placement and immigration-services fees.

Olarte, a lawyer who served as mayor of Agoo from 1988 to 1998, is the proprietor of the Sabloak Philippines, a consultancy firm which allegedly assist applicants to qualify as immigrants to Canada while Chen is the head of Sabloak Canada Inc., a recruitment agency which allegedly sends caregivers to Canada.

According to the prosecutor’s first resolution, "it is clear that Olarte pretended they had a consultancy firm which allegedly had the authority and ability to deploy workers for overseas employment. His promises prompted the complainant to pay a large amount of money. Without the false pretenses and promises, the complainant would not have been induced to file her application and pay hard-earned money."

Daligues said she did not yet receive a copy of the new resolution dated July 7. The STAR obtained the copy yesterday from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration who said the hearing of the case is set on Sept. 20. — Jun Elias