Perez showed relief and elation as he told the press he had received an expression of President Arroyo’s support.
"My morale was boosted when the President kissed me… the support the President showed me was heartening," Perez said at a press conference late yesterday afternoon in a restaurant in Ermita, Manila.
The buss — in fact just a mere touching of the cheek or beso-beso, as shown on TV — occurred at the mass oath-taking of new members of the ruling Lakas party at Malacañang’s Ceremonial Hall. The President was seen grinning and reaching out for Perez’s hand.
"I want to express my support for you," Perez quoted Mrs. Arroyo as saying.
It was, Perez said, the "first kiss" he had received from Mrs. Arroyo since she assumed the presidency in January 2001.
"Since she was vice president, this is the only other time we kissed. When she was still a senator, the kissing was normal," a visibly proud Perez said. He did not elaborate.
The justice secretary is on a 30-day leave from his official duties, ostensibly to seek medical treatment for bleeding ulcers.
Perez has been romantically linked to Mrs. Arroyo, but both have denied the rumors. Perez said he could be credited as the man who recruited Mrs. Arroyo to join the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP), which is now a part of the Lakas coalition.
In fact, Mrs. Arroyo admitted knowing of the rumors and giggled girlishly over them at her defunct weekly program May Gloria ang Bukas Mo – to the consternation of her only daughter Luli, who was seated behind the camera.
The President also took up the cudgels for Perez in her keynote address at the 10th Golden Shell Awards and Top Export Performers Awards at the Palace.
Mrs. Arroyo said she only allowed Perez to go on leave in response to Perez’s long-standing request for time to attend to his ulcers. "It has been his intention, even before the matter (of the ‘Million-Dollar Man’ scandal) came to a head on the floor of Congress."
"I appeal to his (Perez’s) accusers — rather than filing your charge in the media, file it with the Office of the Ombudsman. Submit your documents to speed up the investigation. In the meantime, my Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC), with whatever little it has in its hands as evidence, is also doing its own investigation," the President said.
Private banker and businessman Ernest Escaler, who was identified as Perez’s bagman in the $2-million extortion accusation made by Manila Rep. Mark Jimenez against Perez, stood up for the Justice chief.
Perez, Escaler said on ABS-CBN, "is the most decent man I’ve ever known and I am ashamed that I am now being used to bring him down."
On a more serious note, Perez also shrugged off rumors of Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Avelino Cruz’s "secret desire" to bag his post.
Perez said he has personally spoken with Cruz "and he (Cruz) told me that he is not aspiring to (take) my position and I believe him."
"Our working relations are very good and we work as a team in the Cabinet of President Arroyo," Perez said. "Those who are spreading this intrigue should stop this ugly intrigue. I’m saying this is not true at all."
"Starting next week, I will be on the offensive. I will start filing cases against Villarama and Jimenez. I will reveal something more against Jimenez that will show his real character and affect his credibility," Perez said.
Perez will be charging Villarama with "multiple cases of libel" after Villarama branded Perez a "liar" for saying the Philippines has no Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) with Hong Kong.
"It’s true (that the MLAT exists), but it has not been ratified by the Senate and without (Senate ratification) it’s nothing," Perez said, adding that his complaint against Villarama has been completed and his charges against Jimenez are still under study by his lawyers.
"I will file a case against Jimenez, but this will only be a civil case," Perez said, reiterating his earlier statement that he doesn’t intend to fall prey to Jimenez’s alleged ploy to derail the extradition proceedings against him.
Jimenez is wanted in the United States for a string of criminal offenses including mail fraud and illegal contributions to former US President Bill Clinton’s reelection campaign in 1996. The US has asked the Philippine government to extradite Jimenez to the US for prosecution.
Under Article 11 of the RP-US Extradition Treaty, the surrender of an extraditee who has a pending criminal case in a local court could postpone the extradition proceedings until the case has been "concluded or until such person has served any sentence imposed."
"This (having to face a criminal case) may just be a ploy of Jimenez to delay his extradition. My lawyers are thinking of filing just a civil case so as not to derail the (extradition) process," Perez said.
Perez has denied all allegations made by both Villarama and Jimenez that he is the Cabinet’s "Million-Dollar Man" who extorted $2 million from Jimenez.
Villarama, the justice secretary said, will be charged with criminal and civil cases, including possible a libel suit for the Bulacan lawmaker’s speech before an insurers organization in Makati City, which was not covered by parliamentary immunity.
In a related development, Presidential Spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao welcomed the announcement of Senate President Franklin Drilon that the Senate would schedule the MLAT with Hong Kong for immediate ratification to speed up the resolution of the Perez-Jimenez conflict. — With Marichu Villanueva