Jun Pelaez: Is he under threat by a hit team?

I feel that the media seems to be turning into lynch mob going against those doctors at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC). Hey, I’m not saying that they didn’t do anything wrong. They did. They allowed uzzizeros to enter the operating room and thus compromise the sterile environment of the OR But when I heard people asking the Department of Health or the Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC) to revoke their licenses, I thought that this was too harsh a punishment that came as a result of an evil act! If not for the unnatural homosexual act that this Jan-Jan did, all this would never have happened in the first place.

Sure, the PRC should look into whatever ethical violations may have been committed by the medical staff and if there are sanctions then so be it. But revoking their license is too harsh a punishment for this embarrassing episode. I gathered that the Office of the Ombudsman has also stepped into the picture here. If you ask me, they’re wasting their time. This is not a case of graft and corruption. I would like to believe that the Ombudsman is merely trying to get into the act for the sake of publicity!

I was able to talk with Dr. Max Montecillo, one of those who was named by Health Secretary Francisco Duque III as I know him personally. Dr. Montecillo told me that he was not part of the surgical team in that OR, but the Department of General Surgery was instructed to get a video of this operation because of its uniqueness and for the purpose of documenting this case for a report. This report was done last Jan.10, 2008 before the entire Surgery Department. So, this case seems to be above board, except when someone in that OR uploaded a video to YouTube and worse, this Jan-Jan openly declared that he was the person in that video.

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Talking about the Ombudsman, we were all elated that finally some 17 executives mostly from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) were charged for the infamous Lamppost Scam. However this issue has brought up more questions than answers, like why this case was not elevated into a case of plunder when we know too well that the figures involved in this scam had surpassed the minimum requirements to have this case filed as a plunder charge.

I attended a presscon by Mactan Island Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (MICCI) President Efrain Pelaez Jr. to get his side of the story. Businessman Richard King was also with him and the two told me that while they were happy that finally the Ombudsman filed the cases against the accused in the Lamppost Scam, they were not satisfied with the decision because of the same question we already asked, why this wasn’t turned into a plunder case. Since the DPWH is a national agency, why wasn’t DPWH Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. not included in this case? Is this a case of selective justice?

No doubt, Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Arturo “Boy” Radaza would now be preparing for his defense on his case. I also gathered that an arrest warrant is already forthcoming. I just hope for Boy’s sake, they will not serve his arrest warrant this coming Sunday during the Kadaugan sa Mactan.

After the presscon was over, Jun Pelaez revealed to us that last March, he noticed a black Ford Everest parked near his residence. When he left his house, the vehicle followed him. A couple of days later, the same vehicle was spotted again near his residence, so he was able to secure its license plates. With the help of the Cebu City Police Office, they traced the vehicle’s plate number to a certain Jocelyn Corro.

As of press time, we still don’t know the results of the investigation into this by the CCPO. But methinks the owner of this vehicle might be related to Mayor Radaza. If so, what was this vehicle doing near Jun Pelaez’s residence? They cannot feign that they were visiting another house because Jun leaves in the remotest part of Ma. Luisa Park with no neighbors. Who were inside this vehicle? Was that a team casing the residence of Jun Pelaez or worse, was there an assassin inside this vehicle?

That the life of Jun Pelaez is in grave danger is something he already knows, which is why the Philippine National Police (PNP) has assigned a security detail to guard him. The bigger question now is, what was that vehicle doing near the Pelaez residence? Was this a hit team? If so, who sent them? Hey, we’re only asking questions. Call me paranoid if you want, but I know too well that Jun Pelaez has no enemies. But elementary logic tells me where this threat or contract is coming from.