Paule to be detained at Pasay City Jail for 3 days - Gordon

MANILA, Philippines - Jaime Paule, the alleged Malacañang liaison in the P728-million fertilizer fund scam, will stay at the Pasay City Jail for three days, on the order of Senate Blue Ribbon Chairman Richard Gordon. In a radio interview on Fridaf, Gordon cited Senate rules that allowed the detention of anyone cited in contempt of the Senate. "Nasa kanya, pwede siyang lumabas. Kung di siya mag-apologize... Walang remorse eh [After three days, it's up to him what he wants to do. He can get out of jail. He may want to apologize, but then again, he has shown no remorse]," Gordon said in an interview on dzXL radio. He also brushed aside the argument of Paule's lawyer Ferdinand Topacio that the Senate had no jurisdiction over the Pasay City Jail and should not have brought Paule there. Topacio said it is the Interior Department, through the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), that has jurisdiction over jails. But Gordon said nothing barred the Senate from having Paule brought there. A team sent by the Senate sergeant-at-arms brought Paule to the Pasay City Jail Thursday night immediately after he was discharged from St. Luke's Medical Center in Quezon City. "Ang Senado hindi pinagbabawal maglagay ng taong gumagawa ng isang contemptuous conduct. Obligado kaming ilagay sa Senado yan [The Senate, in ordering the detention of someone it cites in contempt, is not limited to keeping that person in the Senate premises]," Gordon said. "Magsisinungaling siya sa batas at tatakbo sa husgado. Huwag kang magsinungaling kung ayaw mong makulong [He would lie to us then seek protection from the courts. If he does not want to be jailed, he should not lie in the first place]," he added. Gordon said the Senate had had enough of Paule's antics, including coming out only when threatened with arrest last December. He said Paule also gave his affidavit only on the day of the hearing, giving senators no time to review it. "Pawang sinungaling, kinokontra ng testigo pero di umaamin parang walang kinalaman. Pati litrato niya nandoon na, sinabi pa dinuktor daw namin. Yan ay contemptuous conduct [He has done nothing but lie to us. Witnesses already linked him to the mess, but he denied them all. Even a photo presented as evidence, he dismissed as tampered. Those are instances of contemptuous conduct]," he said. Meanwhile, Gordon said he might come up with the panel's recommendations on the fertilizer fund scam soon, saying they had already made three drafts. "Inaayos naming maigi para malinis ang ilalatag na decision [We are ironing out the matter so our decision will be fair]," he said. - GMANews.TV