Defer Ampatuan trial, or bring case to UN

Narciso Santiago Jr., presidential adviser on revenue enhancement, made a bold claim in a Letter to the Editor yesterday. He said he knows not of the pains of 90-year-old widow Eufemia Almeda in the hands of Makati Register of Deeds Dorylene SB. Yara.

How can that be, when the Almedas wrote Santiago four times about the matter, and his office stamped receipt for each? First was July 21, 2009, when Eufemia complained that Yara has delayed for months the transfer of conjugal property in her name. Second was Sept. 3, 2009, when Yara tricked Eufemia into saying it was all a misunderstanding. Third, Nov. 4, 2009, Eufemia’s son Edwin informed Santiago they were reinstating their protest against Yara. Fourth, Feb. 9, 2010, Edwin begged him to intervene, for they already had paid P256 million estate tax and Eufemia needed to sell property for three-year-long hospital bills and thrice weekly dialysis.

The documents, with Santiago’s stamped receipt, speak for themselves. He must now say what he has done, if any.

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Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s American spokesman, while admitting that she did put her manicurist and gardener to sinecures, again obfuscates. Emoting paawa epek (fake pity) he says the two are “ordinary people” whom the President wanted represented in government offices.

Yet that’s not the point. As I exposed, Malacañang insiders no less are questioning the credentials of beautician Anita Carpon and gardener Armando Macapagal. Carpon is not a finance whiz to serve in the board of trustees of our billion-peso Pag-IBIG Housing Fund, at P130,000 a month for a fixed two-year term. Macapagal could be related to Arroyo, voiding his posting as Luneta Park Administration deputy. And they both were appointed during the election ban.

But will that ugly American ever grasp such basic Filipino issues?

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Cavite chief prosecutor Manny Velasco once sued a sub for sexual misconduct. Another time, another aide for case fixing. He even threw in jail several kinsmen for drunken affray. Can fellow-lawmen keep pace with his sternness?

Velasco has long been complaining to NBI chief Nestor Mantaring about shakedowns of vice suspects by agents in his province. It’s not clear if the force has acted on it.

In Feb. Velasco wrote Mantaring about a disturbing incident. Special Investigator Chester Gans had called at noon one Friday to say they were bringing a man in for robbery and illegal possession of firearm. Despite several calls to hurry up, Gans’ team arrived only minutes before office closing at 5 p.m. Gut feel told Velasco the delay was deliberate. A call from a ranking official in Manila bolstered his suspicion. Then-Justice Sec. Agnes Devanadera had been tipped off of the goings-on. Allegedly Special Agent Dominador Villanueva was extorting P1 million from the suspect’s wife, or else be unable to post bail and so spend the weekend in jail. When Velasco confronted the agents about it, they hurriedly left without permission or finishing the inquest.

Velasco mentioned several NBI raids of gambling dens and illicit pubs, followed by price haggling to drop or weaken the charges. In most cases Civilian Agent Cris Pulido supposedly fronted for Villanueva. On review, Velasco noted that the NBI-Cavite had filed no major case in the past two years, only minor vice raps. Most bore telltale signs of shenanigan. Villanueva has been warned that if the rackets persist, Velasco’s office no longer would accept NBI cases, lest it be implicated.

Velasco holds the NBI dear because of family ties to it. A number of lawyer-uncles had served as agents; his dad Epimaco had risen from the ranks to become chief. Velasco too almost joined the force, had he not been diverted instead of the justice department’s prosecutorial arm.

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Gloria Arroyo had better think twice about fixing the massacre case against her Ampatuan political pals. She might end up co-accused — before the International Criminal Court no less.

Formed in 2002, the UN body tries cases of genocide, war crimes, and atrocities against humanity. As a rule, it takes on cases if, in obvious cover-up, a government refuses to mete justice.

The Arroyo admin is perceived to be treating the Ampatuans with kid gloves to protect her own hide. The family had cheated for her 2004 presidential run, and her party’s 2007 senatorial election. From the start she dawdled to have Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. arrested, despite testimonies that the beast had led the slaughter of 57 female political rivals, lawyers and journalists. Only when the clan defiantly sent word that they’d expose their operations for her did she declare martial law in Maguindanao and had them nabbed for rebellion. Still, Maguindanao Gov. Andal Sr., the patriarch, was kept not in jail but a military hospital.

The rebellion case was weak. Then, Arroyo’s acting justice secretary ordered the dropping of murder rap against ARMM Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan and Maguindanao Vice Gov. Akmad Ampatuan. Allegedly their alibi of being elsewhere during the massacre negated the conspiracy theory; he never consulted the prosecutors about it. To top it all, Arroyo’s jail officials let Andal Jr. hold a press conference inside his high-security cell.

All this shows that Arroyo, through gofers, is coddling the Ampatuans. The victims’ kin have asked that court proceedings be deferred till a new admin takes over on June 30. If Arroyo persists in tampering with the case, they had better go to the UN.

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“If you guide your children through worldly dreams, in death they end up with nothing. If you guide them through eternal values, they will reap a harvest without end.” Shafts of Light, Fr. Guido Arguelles, SJ

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