This developed after three associates of Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel Arroyo filed libel suits against Wilfredo Mayor for alleging during a public hearing that they were “bagmen” of the President’s son who received P600,000 monthly jueteng protection money while he was still vice governor.

Senators Miriam Defensor Santiago and Juan Ponce Enrile yesterday said that Mayor can always raise the defense that his statements were made in an official Senate inquiry which gives him immunity from any criminal prosecution.

“It is a privilege that he can raise as a defense,” said Enrile said, adding that Mayor is immune from the cases if his testimony is of national interest. 

Leon Katigbak, Rene Maglanque and Arthur Nuguit filed a libel suit against Mayor after he linked them to the jueteng scandal.  They all denied Mayor’s accusations they received jueteng payola for the President’s son.

Santiago, a noted lawyer and former trial judge, said the immunity granted to Mayor  by the Senate insulates the witness from prosecution.  

“It is allowed by the existing law, (the) 2004 anti- jueteng law. If that is the case, the immunity will cover any criminal prosecution except a charge from the Senate committee itself for perjury if the witness is telling a lie under oath or for contempt  or disobeying the committee,” the senator said.  

Santiago said that only the Senate committee will have jurisdiction to charge Mayor or any other witnesses during the hearing but only if they misbehave.  

The lady legislator also said that the threats issued by Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez that jueteng witnesses risk facing criminal charges if they stand as witness at the hearing conducted by Senate committee on games, amusement, and sports and the committee on public order hold no water.

The two committees are headed by Senators Lito Lapid and Manny Villar respectively. 

Santiago said that “any agency that facilitates the filing of criminal charges against witnesses appearing in a formal investigation by the Senate, in effect, would be casting a veto on what the Senate has decided  to do.”

If these were allowed to happen, then any government official can derail a Senate inquiry by just threatening criminal prosecution against any witness, she said.

 However, Gonzalez reiterated that Presidential Decree 1732 is clear in that “no witness can be immune from suits” even if they testify before the Senate.

Pimentel: Libel charges part of Palace ploy to intimidate witnesses

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Nene” Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) yesterday said the libel suits filed against Senate hearing witness Wilfredo Mayor were part of administration tactics to intimidate witnesses from coming forward and from implicating people identified with the administration in the jueteng scandal.

“That is a hopeless quest on the part of the alleged bagmen, because Mayor enjoys immunity from suit for the testimony that he gave to the Senate investigating committees,” he said.

The libel and false testimony charges were filed with the Department of Justice by former Transportation Assistant Secretary Rene Maglanque, former Vice Mayor Arturo Nuguit of Minalin, Pampanga and stockbroker Leon Katigbak.

Pimentel said if they really want to disprove Mayor’s accusation, they can do so by testifying before the Senate committee on public order and illegal drugs and committee on games and amusement.

“That is the best forum where they can ventilate their side because that was where the accusation was made,” he said.

Pimentel deplored that while Malacañang kept assuring that it would fully cooperate with the Senate inquiry, it has set in motion an organized campaign to disrupt the process and to dissuade witnesses from testifying.

Meanwhile, Pimentel berated Philippine National Police Director General Arturo Lomibao for waving the white flag this early in the fight against jueteng with his admission that the PNP cannot stop the illegal numbers game despite the existence of a stronger law against illegal gambling.

Pimentel said the obvious lack of resolve and sincerity on the part of Malacañang and the PNP leadership in winning the battle over jueteng only fans suspicion that the underground game of chance has continued to proliferate because of the protection of government authorities.

He claimed the intensified crackdown on illegal gambling which supposedly made the entire Luzon “jueteng-free” was one big charade in view of the PNP’s dismal failure to apprehend and criminally sue even one big-time jueteng lord.

“The PNP brass would like the public to believe that they are not sleeping on the anti-jueteng drive.  But the glaring reality is they are reluctant to go after the jueteng syndicates because too many police officials are benefiting from its operations in the form of protection money,” the minority leader said.

Appearing before the House committee on public order and safety Wednesday, Lomibao said the PNP could not sustain the campaign against jueteng because of  insufficient personnel and resource.

But Pimentel said jueteng has been successfully stopped in many areas like Puerto Princesa City and Naga City because of the political will of the mayors and the cooperation of the police commanders.

Archbishop Cruz now gets attacks on his moral integrity

By LESLIE ANN G. AQUINO

The attempts to silence anti-jueteng crusader Archbishop Oscar Cruz have gone beyond death threats to attacks on his moral integrity.

Cruz said he is aware that certain individuals are now planning to attack his moral integrity by coming out with a long list of the “boys and girls” as well as the “men and women” in his life.

But instead of being worried or offended, the archbishop even finds the move as funny and entertaining.

“I take not the least offense against the so called ‘dirty tricks department’ orchestrating all the above vain and futile programs and projects,” he said.

“I understand. I sympathize with the big preoccupations of all those affected by the on-going inquiry about the jueteng lords and their payola beneficiaries,” he said.

The prelate said it’s perfectly understandable that certain people are mounting an offensive against him as a defense tactic.

“The Senate and House hearings must be worrying much the people in the power and the individuals of influence, named as jueteng lords or jueteng payola beneficiaries, that they are now very nervous, very apprehensive, very defensive,” Cruz said.

But no matter what these people do in covering the truth, he said, the truth will always come out.

This is because Cruz said, the truth “has a life of its own which always finds a way of letting itself out.” 

Beltran doubts if PNP is on top of the situation in jueteng

Anakpawis Rep. Crispin Beltran yesterday said that by admitting that it is powerless to stop the proliferation of underground lotteries, the Philippine National Police put to lie past claims that “it was on top of the jueteng situation.”

“For a change, the Philippine National Police is admitting the truth that it’s inutile in the fight against jueteng and, by extension, the PNP exposed its own previous lies that it was on top of the jueteng situation,” Beltran said in commenting on the admission of PNP Director General Arturo Lomibao that the police do not have the resources and manpower to go after all jueteng operators.

“Given this admission, however, the PNP is already washing its hand of its responsibility to put an end to the illegal numbers game and round up the gambling lords that run the syndicates,” he said.

“We knew that all along. But this supposed ‘powerlessness’ in fighting jueteng is not so much because the PNP lacks the manpower or the skills, but because the higher-ups in the institution are not genuinely determined to capture any big-time gambling lords, including the jueteng masterminds and protection-money collectors,” he said.

“Lomibao should qualify his admission because in truth, there are still PNP officers, men and women who have integrity and are honestly doing their best to fight jueteng. The problem lies with the higher-ups and the ranking officers in the PNP, many of whom are alleged to be on the payroll of jueteng lords and ensure the number game’s proliferation and smooth operations in the provinces.”

The veteran labor leader turned lawmaker also pointed out that even Lomibao is being suspected of involvement in jueteng, not as a bettor, but as a syndicate protector.

“The credibility of the very people tasked to put an end to the gambling network is even questionable — so it’s not surprising that the campaign to put an end to jueteng is just going around in circles. The fact is this: it was only the persistence of staunch anti-gambling and anti-corruption advocates such as Archbishop Oscar Cruz and their relentless ventilation of the issue that has forced the PNP and the Macapagal-Arroyo administration to take action against jueteng. Otherwise, it will be status quo: the jueteng lords will continue to build their underground gambling empire and the PNP will make occasional but half-hearted raids on jueteng dens just to project an image that it’s doing its job.”

In the meantime, the activist solon said that Malacañang’s go-signal to the Department of Justice and Secretary Raul Gonzalez to go after those being implicated in the Senate jueteng inquiry was just for show.