TCC cases now in the hands of govt lawyer with links to accused - Villa-Ignacio
11/05/2008 | 06:06 PM
MANILA, Philippines - With the decision of the Office of the Ombudsman to sack its team handling the 148 tax credit certificate scam, the agency has effectively handed the cases to a former auditor of the a bank which is partly-owned by one of the accused.
This was revealed Wednesday by Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio who pointed out that the new four-man prosecution team led by Ireneo Paldeng, the acting Prosecution Bureau IX director, will be reporting to acting Deputy Special Prosecutor Cornelio L. Somido.
Somido used to be an auditor in Capitol Savings Bank of which Faustino Chingkoe - one of the principal accused in the said cases - is a part-owner.
Villa-Ignacio's remark came after he and his six-man prosecution team were relieved by Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez of the cases last October 24 amid the schism within the agency.
The Villa-Ignacio team had less than three months handling the prosecution of Chingkoe and the rest of the accused before the Fourth and Fifth Divisions of the Sandiganbayan.
The TCC cases involve alleged fraudulent issuance and illegal transfer of TCCs amounting to at least P2.3 billion.
Others who were accused along with Chingkoe are finance officials and executives of transport companies, textile firms and oil giants.
Somido, who is currently on official travel abroad, had earlier inhibited from handling the cases for this same reason.
But the Ombudsman’s decision to replace Villa-Ignacio's team thrust the cases back into his arms.
Villa-Ignacio explained that because of his quarrel with Gutierrez, none of the cases assigned to the Office of the Special Prosecutor pass through his office anymore.
“Technically, all cases handled by the OSP are under my control but all my bureau directors were taken away. Deputy Special Prosecutor (Robert) Bobby Kallos suffered a stroke and is still recuperating. So this new posecution team is reporting to Fiscal Somido. He will be involved. You connect all the dots," he said.
A CHALLENGE GONE BAD?
Villa-Ignacio said Gutierrez assigned the cases to him and his team composed of Asst. Special Prosecutors Rohemia J. Jamsani-Rodriguez, Ma. Hazelina A. Tujan-Militante, Jennifer A. Agustin-Se, Agnes B. Autencio-Daquis, Mariter Delfin-Santos and Roland B. Galvan last July 10 ‘as a form of harassment’.
“The Ombudsman was not really seriously thinking we would take her up on her challenge. She assigned these cases to me probably hoping I would buckle down and resign. These cases have been pending since 1999 and the records are already voluminous. But it took up the challenge and my team told them we are ready," he said.
Despite the time constraint, he said that immediately went to work and interviewed three witnesses who will be called to the stand as soon as trial gets underway.
He added that as part of the strategy, they first decided to seek the inhibition of Fourth Division chairman, Associate Justice Gregory Ong.
“My team is composed of very good, seasoned prosecutors and we have already mapped out our strategy for a speedy trial. But part of that strategy was to get Justice Ong to inhibit," the prosecutor explained.
In his motion asking Ong to voluntarily recuse from participating in the trial, Villa-Ignacio cited his pending petition before the Supreme Court, questioning the legality of Ong’s authority to sit as a member of the Sandiganbayan after he was disqualified to sit as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on a question of his citizenship.
The prosecutor noted that the citizenship requirement of the Sandiganbayan and the High Court are exactly the same hence his concern that Ong’s official action may later be cited as a basis to challenge the Fourth Division’s rulings.
But Gutierrez torpedoed their strategy by filing a comment at the Fourth Division saying that the Ombudsman does not support the motion for Ong’s inhibition.
“That was very unfair to me and my team. We are trying to do the job she herself assigned to us but she is pulling the rug from under us," he pointed out.
MORE DELAYS
Villa-Ignacio said he has no choice but to turn over the case records to the new panel assigned by the Ombudsman even as he stressed that he is not backing down.
He declared readiness to bring the matter up to the Supreme Court.
This and the question of the inhibition of Justice Ong are expected to cause longer delays in the proceedings.
“The allegation that we did not comply with our duties was completely false and malicious. My team is being accused of prosecutorial misconduct but the records will show who is doing everything possible to kill these cases," Villa-Ignacio said.
In recommending the relief of Villa-Ignacio and his team, Overall Deputy Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro claimed that the former failed to submit the required monthly reports.
But Villa-Ignacio furnished reporters copies of his report dated August 12 which was stamped ‘Received’ by Casimiro’s office.
Likewise he produced two memoranda both dated September 14, 2008 requesting previous prosecutors handling the TCC cases to submit a summary of the proceedings so far and an abstract of the evidence in their possession. Gutierrez was furnished copies of both memorandum.
Casimiro’s recommendation for the relief of Villa-Ignacio and his team was issued last October 2.
“She assigned these 148 counts of graft to us through a memo dated July 10 which we received at the OSP on July 23. And now ODO Casimiro is saying we did not submit our reports? Give us a break! We went to work at once, we submitted our report and we have the documents to prove it. How can he deny this?" the prosecutor said. - GMANews.TV
This was revealed Wednesday by Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio who pointed out that the new four-man prosecution team led by Ireneo Paldeng, the acting Prosecution Bureau IX director, will be reporting to acting Deputy Special Prosecutor Cornelio L. Somido.
Somido used to be an auditor in Capitol Savings Bank of which Faustino Chingkoe - one of the principal accused in the said cases - is a part-owner.
Villa-Ignacio's remark came after he and his six-man prosecution team were relieved by Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez of the cases last October 24 amid the schism within the agency.
The Villa-Ignacio team had less than three months handling the prosecution of Chingkoe and the rest of the accused before the Fourth and Fifth Divisions of the Sandiganbayan.
The TCC cases involve alleged fraudulent issuance and illegal transfer of TCCs amounting to at least P2.3 billion.
Others who were accused along with Chingkoe are finance officials and executives of transport companies, textile firms and oil giants.
Somido, who is currently on official travel abroad, had earlier inhibited from handling the cases for this same reason.
But the Ombudsman’s decision to replace Villa-Ignacio's team thrust the cases back into his arms.
Villa-Ignacio explained that because of his quarrel with Gutierrez, none of the cases assigned to the Office of the Special Prosecutor pass through his office anymore.
“Technically, all cases handled by the OSP are under my control but all my bureau directors were taken away. Deputy Special Prosecutor (Robert) Bobby Kallos suffered a stroke and is still recuperating. So this new posecution team is reporting to Fiscal Somido. He will be involved. You connect all the dots," he said.
A CHALLENGE GONE BAD?
Villa-Ignacio said Gutierrez assigned the cases to him and his team composed of Asst. Special Prosecutors Rohemia J. Jamsani-Rodriguez, Ma. Hazelina A. Tujan-Militante, Jennifer A. Agustin-Se, Agnes B. Autencio-Daquis, Mariter Delfin-Santos and Roland B. Galvan last July 10 ‘as a form of harassment’.
“The Ombudsman was not really seriously thinking we would take her up on her challenge. She assigned these cases to me probably hoping I would buckle down and resign. These cases have been pending since 1999 and the records are already voluminous. But it took up the challenge and my team told them we are ready," he said.
Despite the time constraint, he said that immediately went to work and interviewed three witnesses who will be called to the stand as soon as trial gets underway.
He added that as part of the strategy, they first decided to seek the inhibition of Fourth Division chairman, Associate Justice Gregory Ong.
“My team is composed of very good, seasoned prosecutors and we have already mapped out our strategy for a speedy trial. But part of that strategy was to get Justice Ong to inhibit," the prosecutor explained.
In his motion asking Ong to voluntarily recuse from participating in the trial, Villa-Ignacio cited his pending petition before the Supreme Court, questioning the legality of Ong’s authority to sit as a member of the Sandiganbayan after he was disqualified to sit as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on a question of his citizenship.
The prosecutor noted that the citizenship requirement of the Sandiganbayan and the High Court are exactly the same hence his concern that Ong’s official action may later be cited as a basis to challenge the Fourth Division’s rulings.
But Gutierrez torpedoed their strategy by filing a comment at the Fourth Division saying that the Ombudsman does not support the motion for Ong’s inhibition.
“That was very unfair to me and my team. We are trying to do the job she herself assigned to us but she is pulling the rug from under us," he pointed out.
MORE DELAYS
Villa-Ignacio said he has no choice but to turn over the case records to the new panel assigned by the Ombudsman even as he stressed that he is not backing down.
He declared readiness to bring the matter up to the Supreme Court.
This and the question of the inhibition of Justice Ong are expected to cause longer delays in the proceedings.
“The allegation that we did not comply with our duties was completely false and malicious. My team is being accused of prosecutorial misconduct but the records will show who is doing everything possible to kill these cases," Villa-Ignacio said.
In recommending the relief of Villa-Ignacio and his team, Overall Deputy Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro claimed that the former failed to submit the required monthly reports.
But Villa-Ignacio furnished reporters copies of his report dated August 12 which was stamped ‘Received’ by Casimiro’s office.
Likewise he produced two memoranda both dated September 14, 2008 requesting previous prosecutors handling the TCC cases to submit a summary of the proceedings so far and an abstract of the evidence in their possession. Gutierrez was furnished copies of both memorandum.
Casimiro’s recommendation for the relief of Villa-Ignacio and his team was issued last October 2.
“She assigned these 148 counts of graft to us through a memo dated July 10 which we received at the OSP on July 23. And now ODO Casimiro is saying we did not submit our reports? Give us a break! We went to work at once, we submitted our report and we have the documents to prove it. How can he deny this?" the prosecutor said. - GMANews.TV
