Quezon City Rep. Michael Defensor challenged anew police officials yesterday to a lie detector test to prove who among them is telling the truth in the controversial case involving four young women arrested by police on suspicions of prostitution.
"I have been telling them to join me in taking a lie detector test," Defensor told the weekly Cypress news forum. "The case they filed against me at the Ombudsman will take a long time. Why don't we just take the tests to settle this once and for all?"
The congressman came to the aid of the four women -- Karen De Guzman, Rona Villareal, Georgilyn Feriles, and Jammer Adrias--who claimed they were dragged out of a popular bar and restaurant on Timog Avenue by Central Police District (CPD) policemen on suspicion of prostitution while they were on the dance floor.
The women said they were booked for vagrancy and forced to plead guilty without having been provided a lawyer of their choice. They also accused police of subjecting them to sexual innuendoes while they were under detention.
On Friday, the women filed a motion to withdraw the plea of guilty they made in the Quezon City Metropolitan Trial Court.
They earlier filed a complaint with the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) against Police Officers 1 Rennet Jamor, Jonathan Hornadal and Allan Paul Tesado, who conducted the arrest.
Women's groups led by Gabriela also came out with statements of support for the four women, whose case, they said, exemplified the routine abuse women suffer because of police arrogance and incompetence.
The policemen, undaunted, filed charges of graft and light threats against Defensor, alleging that the congressman threatened to do them in if they did not release the women from police custody.
But Defensor, who came to the forum with his wife and two-year-old son, said he is "not a bit worried" about the graft and light threats cases he is now facing. He said he will also file counter-charges.
"My heart goes out to these policemen," said Defensor. "If the truth is found that they've been lying all along, no one will be dismissed from the service but them, not their superiors."
Two of the women - Feriles and Adrias - also showed up at the forum and recounted their ordeal at the hands of the police.
On national television a few nights ago, Defensor apologized to Metro Manila Police director Chief Superintendent Edgar Aglipay for calling him a liar. Appearing on Dong Puno Live, the congressman said the arresting policemen were the ones lying about what really happened.
Meanwhile, Makati Rep. Joker Arroyo urged the Philippine National Police yesterday to focus its efforts on neutralizing terrorists instead of "putting down Defensor."
That the police should at all times pursue its primary task of preserving the peace is the "abject lesson" that the PNP can derive from the "condemnable bombing" of the Department of Energy building in Fort Bonifaco, Arroyo said.
"What happened is that while the PNP was insisting that Defensor was interfering in police affairs, the bombers were breaching police security," he said.
He added that the police did not notice the "elaborate preparations for the bombing" because its top officials were all over the media explaining their side of the Defensor case.
In a related development, Deputy Speaker Erico Aumentado urged the House ethics committee to initiate an inquiry into Defensor's case.
"The panel is now being challenged by allegations that a congressman had improperly sought the release of four young women arrested by the Quezon City police for alleged vagrancy," he said.
He said the ethics panel should amend its rules so it can investigate erring House members without waiting for a formal complaint. "This will give more teeth to the committee, which serves as the guardian of the dignity and honor of the House and its members," he added.
Aumentado was ethics panel chairman before becoming deputy speaker. The committee is now chaired by Lanao del Norte Rep. Alipio Cirilo Badelles. - With a report from Jess Diaz