No case against me, Desierto foe says

Lawyer Ernesto Francisco Jr. denied yesterday that there was any criminal case filed against him as claimed by the leader of anti-corruption group Bantay-bayan Foundation.

"There is no criminal case filed or pending against my person... I am not aware of any criminal case that has been filed or is pending against me," Francisco wrote The STAR in denying the claims of Willy Calma, head of the Bantay-bayan.

He also denied Calma’s claim that he had a client by the name of Luis Virata who supposedly filed a disbarment complaint against him for unethical conduct before the Supreme Court.

"I have no client by the name of Luis Virata, although a Luis Virata is one of the respondents in the plunder and graft cases I filed which are still pending in the Office of the Ombudsman," Francisco said.

The lawyer also denied Calma’s claim that a lawyer had filed a complaint against him before the Quezon City prosecutors’ office for violating the lawyer-client confidentiality rule.

Francisco issued the denial a day after Calma’s group expressed support for Ombudsman Aniano Desierto, against whom Francisco and Misamis Oriental Rep. Oscar Moreno filed an impeachment complaint, the second complaint within a year.

For his part, Desierto laughed off yesterday the claim of Moreno and Francisco that their second impeachment complaint is gaining ground in the House of Representatives.

Moreno urged Speaker Jose de Venecia to "do a Villar" and endorse the case against Desierto.

"He should do a Villar by endorsing the case against Desierto," Moreno said, referring to the official acts of then Speaker, now Sen. Manuel Villar during the impeachment proceedings against former President Joseph Estrada.

Moreno said he was sure De Venecia shares the "overwhelming sentiment" in the House to remove a "bungling Ombudsman."

"Otherwise, he could have stopped us or many of our colleagues from joining the initiative to impeach Desierto," he said, adding that De Venecia would be sending a strong anti-corruption message if he supports the complaint.

Rep. Ted Failon (Independent, Leyte), who supported the impeachment initiative last week, said he would be proud to have been part of the 12th Congress if it is able to oust Desierto.

"It would mean that all branches of government — the executive, the legislative and the judiciary — are serious about good governance," Failon said.

"Like Manny Villar, I am sure JDV has a sense of history," added Failon, a first-term congressman.

Besides Failon, the latest to support the impeachment complaint against Desierto are Minority Leader Carlos Padilla and the Liberal Party group of Tarlac Rep. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III.

Bataan Rep. Enrique Garcia, who belongs to Padilla’s opposition bloc, said he has asked for a copy of the complaint and its supporting evidence.

On the other hand, lawyer Jose de Jesus Jr., spokesman for the Office of the Ombudsman, assailed Moreno and Francisco for pretending that many congressmen are supporting their move "when the truth of the matter is that they cannot even produce the names and release to the public the 25 congressmen who are allegedly supporting them."

"We firmly believe that the honorable members of Congress will not be bamboozled into supporting the misrepresentations and disinformation campaign of Moreno and Francisco," De Jesus said.

"It is now evident that Moreno and Francisco have become masters of manipulation and deception," De Jesus stressed.

De Jesus said that the bulk of the membership of the Lakas-NUCD, Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP), Liberal Party and most independents have reaffirmed their commitment to block the moves of Moreno and Francisco.

The Northern Luzon Alliance, meanwhile, led by Ilocos Sur Rep. Eric Singson expressed support for Desierto.

"The two impeachment complaints are not only baseless, they are in fact distracting Congress from its legislative work," Singson said.

Rep. Felix William Fuentebella (NPC, Camarines Sur) said that his partymates are "solid" behind Desierto. The NPC is the second biggest bloc in the House.

Fuentebella, son of former Speaker Arnulfo Fuentebella, said he doubts if a single member of the NPC would support Moreno and Francisco.

Independent Rep. Constantino Jaraula of Cagayan de Oro City said, "the Francisco complaint is doomed from the beginning" because "it is clearly based on hearsay evidence, as Francisco simply relied on what supposedly his client and a freelance mediaman had told him."

Rep. Harlin Abayon of the LP agreed and said that aside from its being unconstitutional, the second impeachment complaint is simply a waste of time.

"It will be a waste of public time and effort to give importance to a patently weak case that is founded on evidence that we know will just be thrown out anyway," Abayon said.

Other lawmakers have said the charges are not sufficient in substance and, De Jesus said, that may be the reason why Moreno and Francisco have so far failed to garner 73 signatories to the complaint.

"The issue of sufficiency in substance of the complaint against the Ombudsman was among the easiest posed to me after I have fully studied the complaint and the evidence of the complainant. I found the complaint absolutely wanting in substance," said opposition Rep. Rodolfo Albano (LDP, Isabela).

Former Constitutional Commission delegate Regalado Maambong also dismissed the second impeachment complaint as unconstitutional because if falls within the ban on filing more than one impeachment complaint within one year. – With reports from Jess Diaz