Impeachment case vs Desierto not likely to prosper, Villar says

An impeachment case filed yesterday against Ombudsman Aniano Desierto is unlikely to prosper because of the complexity of the process, according to Senate President Pro Tempore Manuel Villar Jr.

Villar, who was Speaker of the House of Representatives when former President Joseph Estrada was impeached for several charges on Nov. 13 last year, said he was sure the resolution to impeach Desierto would be confined to the chamber.

A complaint for the impeachment or ouster of Desierto for alleged bribery, violation of the Constitution and betrayal of the public trust was filed yesterday with the House.

The complainant is lawyer Ernesto Francisco of Makati City, the same person who filed early this year with Desierto’s office two plunder cases against Estrada, evangelist Mike Velarde and brothers Manuel and Ronaldo Zamora in connection with a multibillion-peso road project.

Villar explained that the debates on the case between friends and enemies of the Ombudsman would take a lot of time, which most members of the House would not waste over Desierto.

Villar said this was the second time an impeachment case against Desierto was submitted to the House; the first was filed by then Rep. Roilo Golez during the 10th Congress for alleged forgery.

"In the end, nothing happened because of lack of time," Villar said.

Francisco is also the lawyer of Aquino administration Tourism Secretary Jose Antonio Gonzalez in the latter’s fight with the Clark Development Corp. for control of the Mimosa leisure estate.

Rep. Oscar Moreno (Lakas, Misamis Oriental) endorsed Francisco’s impeachment complaint against Desierto.

In his resolution of endorsement, Moreno said the complaint alleges "certain felonies punishable under the Revised Penal Code" that must be looked into, and that it is "sufficient in form and substance."

The Misamis congressman was a member of the House panel that prosecuted Estrada in his Senate impeachment trial.

Francisco’s case is based principally on two alleged incidents of bribery involving Desierto.

The complainant claimed that toward the latter part of 1997, his client, Bank of Southeast Asia (BSA), now known as DBS Philippines, "gifted" the Ombudsman a video equipment, complete with accessories, worth about P283,000 and P500,000 in cash.

At that time, he said he was with the ACCRA law firm and was the lawyer in charge of the BSA account. Also at the time, BSA was being investigated by Desierto’s office for alleged involvement in the so-called "Petronscam."

In that scam, three Petron checks worth P540 million and intended for payment to the Bureau of Customs were deposited in a BSA account held by Skybound Realty Holdings and its owner, Arnulfo Cabalsa, and were subsequently encashed.

Francisco said when stories about the scam appeared in the newspapers, his client-bank feared that the bad publicity could result in a bank run.

So the bank requested Desierto to defer his investigation of the irregularity for two months "to let things die down and avert a bank run," he said.

This was when BSA delivered its "gifts" to the Ombudsman, he recounted.

He claimed that the video equipment was requested from his client by Fernando "Ding" Timbol, whom he described as Desierto’s PR (public relations) man, but that he himself delivered it to Timbol in Desierto’s office in the presence of the Ombudsman on Aug. 26, 1997.

He said the P500,000 in cash was handed to Desierto about three weeks later, on Sept. 19, in his presence in a room he booked at the Westin Philippine Plaza Hotel in Manila.

He admitted, however, that no receipt was signed by the Ombudsman for the "gifts."

Asked why he filed the case only yesterday despite the fact that the alleged offenses took place four years ago, Francisco said he has become "disgusted and frustrated with the way the Ombudsman is doing his job."

He said Desierto had been sitting on the two plunder cases he filed against Estrada, Velarde and the Zamora brothers, and has been "bungling the prosecution of the ousted president."

"I want to do my share in cleansing the Office of the Ombudsman and in the fight against corruption," he said.

He added that his complaint against Desierto, the chief government prosecutor in the Estrada cases in the Sandiganbayan, is not politically motivated since he is also a complainant against the former president.

For their part, the Partido ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) welcomed yesterday the filing of the impeachment charges against Desierto.

PMP spokesman Jesus Crispin Remulla said the case demonstrates the divisiveness now plaguing the EDSA 2 coalition that ousted Estrada from Malacañang after an aborted impeachment trial.

"This is a welcome development and long overdue. It is the only way for him to be questioned. This is part of the democratic process," Remulla said. — With Jose Rodel Clapano