Actress and game show host Kris Aquino has delayed filing administrative charges against her erstwhile lover Parañaque City Mayor Joey Marquez to give him more time to reconsider his decision not to make a public apology to her.
Aquino’s lawyer, Raymund Fortun, said Aquino’s mother, former President Corazon Aquino, is "exercising her compassion in obtaining justice for Kris by giving Joey time to reconsider his earlier decision not to apologize."
The 18-month Aquino-Marquez love story ended on a sour note on Sept. 22, when a spat between the two degenerated into a physical struggle and culminated with Marquez allegedly cocking and poking a gun at Aquino.
Fortun said the Aquino family does not wish to destroy Marquez’s political future over the acrimonious breakup.
All they want, Fortun said, is to give Aquino justice for the verbal and physical abuse she said Marquez dealt her.
"In Tita Cory’s (Mrs. Aquino’s) words, we are not in the business of destroying people’s lives," Fortun told reporters.
However, Fortun said the Aquino family did not set a timetable within which Marquez could change his mind. "But (Marquez) should not test the (Aquino) family’s patience."
What the Aquino family wants is a public apology, but the tenor of the apology must be acceptable, hindi lang basta ‘sorry’ (not just ‘sorry’)," Fortun said.
When asked if the Aquino camp would prepare Marquez’s apology, if indeed he does decide to change his mind, the lawyer replied, "nope. But he knows what the (Aquino) family wants."
Marquez earlier said he would rather fight in court than issue a public apology. According to Marquez, giving in to the Aquino family’s demands would "take what little dignity I have left," and make a martyr of Aquino, while portraying him as the most evil man in the world.
Should the Aquino family decide to file administrative charges against Marquez, Malacañang would have to decide whether or not Marquez will be suspended, an official of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said.
After receiving the complaint, the Palace would give Marquez 15 days to submit his counter-affidavit before issuing its decision on whether or not he will be suspended.
However, Malacañang has declined to touch the Aquino-Marquez controversy, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said.
According to Bunye, the Palace is letting the courts resolve the issue, considering the fact that Aquino filed criminal charges of grave threats, illegal possession of firearms and less serious physical injuries against the mayor before the Rizal Prosecutor’s Office Monday.
"Let us just wait for the developments," Bunye said, adding that while Malacañang has jurisdiction over city mayors, Aquino has not filed any administrative charges against Marquez.
The Sandiganbayan third division headed by Justice Godofredo Legaspi, remanded the P6.4 million graft suit filed against Marquez by book supplier Lizabeth Carreon.
Carreon sued Marquez after she delivered textbooks to several Parañaque City schools but was not reimbursed, contrary to a city council allocation agreement.
The Office of the Ombudsman and the Office of the Special Prosecutor, led by Dennis Villa-Ignacio, were given "60 days" in which to wrap up the reinvestigation of the Marquez graft case. They were also ordered to submit a report on the matter within the same period.
"In the interest of justice and after considering the allegations in two motions for reinvestigation separately filed by Marquez, the court grants the same and orders the OSP of the Ombudsman to reinvestigate these cases," the graft court ruled in a single-page decision.
Marquez is chairman of the Parañaque City school board. Sued with him were his co-chair, Rolando Magno, executive assistant Mar Jimenez and assistant to the mayor Antonette Antonio.
Carreon said that from February 1998 to February 1999, Marquez and two others promised her the city council would pass a resolution allocating funds for the textbooks she delivered as representative of the book suppliers contracted to provide textbooks to the city’s public schools.
Prosecutors said in the charge sheet against Marquez that the mayor and three others "pretended" that there were "transactions" — through purchase orders, vouchers and the like — "when in truth and in fact there is no appropriation, to the damage and prejudice of the suppliers."
They also accused Marquez of "taking advantage of his position" by conspiring with the three others to "feloniously induce Carreon to deliver" the books to various schools and promised her reimbursement, which she never received.
An Ombudsman decision was issued in September 2000 dismissing "provisionally" the charges against Marquez, but this was modified and charges were finally lodged after he failed to provide the Ombudsman with a copy of any findings clearing him of responsibility. — with Delon Porcalla