Drama, comedy mark jueteng probe

Drama and comedy marked the resumption of the Senate hearings on jueteng yesterday. Emotions ran high over charges and countercharges while statements from witnesses elicited a few good laughs from the audience.

In the initial salvo, Sen. Richard Gordon fumed after witness Richard Garcia claimed there was a resurgence of jueteng in the Southern Tagalog provinces and even in Olongapo City where a front for jueteng, known as the EZ2 numbers game, is allegedly being operated by Gordon’s nephew.

"We will not tolerate any member of my family (being) involved in this operation," Gordon said firmly.

This prompted committee chairmen Senators Lito Lapid and Manny Villar to strike Garcia’s statement from the record and admonish him from making allegations without direct knowledge or proof.

Garcia also revealed an alleged plot to silence him last week when unidentified men reportedly fired shots in front of his house. Though he said was not threatened, he said he saw the need to inform the Senate of the incident.

Gordon also had a verbal tussle with former solicitor general Frank Chavez, legal counsel of self-confessed jueteng bagwoman Sandra Cam.

During questioning by Gordon, Cam admitted having rented a Pasay City condominium owned by a Korean-Filipino male friend, who also owns a one-hectare property in Masbate.

Earlier, the counsel of Cam’s former landlord sought to serve two letters to demand payment of P260,000 in overdue rental payments from Cam at the Senate but Cam and Chavez reportedly refused to receive the letters.

Gordon then revealed before the panel that Cam was facing charges of forcible entry on one of the properties. This prompted Chavez to point fingers at Gordon and accuse the Senate of being a "monarchy" bent on humiliating his client.

Gordon moved that Chavez be held for contempt. The panel has not decided on Gordon’s move but Villar set an executive session to tackle the issue in the next hearing.

Meanwhile, retired police Chief Superintendent Restituto Mosqueda — who had sought to discredit Cam’s testimony — provided comic relief when he invoked his "right to remain silent" to avoid self-incrimination, a line borrowed from Negros Occidental Rep. Ignacio "Iggy" Arroyo during the Senate investigation of the Jose Pidal case.

Mosqueda had to do an "Iggy" when Senators Juan Ponce Enrile and Jinggoy Estrada questioned his properties, which were reportedly not proportionate to his declared income of about P1 million from 2001 to 2003 and only P300,000 last year.

Apparently pressured during the interrogation, Mosqueda — assisted by his counsel Salvador Panelo — invoked "his right to remain silent," at least 23 times.

"That means you have committed a crime," a visibly irked Enrile said.

Opposition senators led by Sen. Sergio Osmeña III provided photos of Mosqueda’s property in Alfonso, Cavite as well as vehicles believed to be owned by Mosqueda, one of which was a Cherokee 1998 model.

When senators questioned the retired police officer on the property he described in previous hearings as a "small nipa hut," he admitted to having a "lapse in judgment," a line also borrowed from Mrs. Arroyo’s speech on the wiretapped conversations she had with an election official.

The "nipa hut" turned out to be a three-story property with a floor area of about 300 square meters, with a basketball court and two swimming pools.

"Ang aming kubo, made of bamboo and banahaw. Sabi niyo mansion, hindi po mansion yan (Our nipa hut is made of bamboo and banahaw. You said it’s a mansion. It’s not)," Mosqueda argued.

Mosqueda said he paid P70,000 for the land which is about 1.8 hectares.

In previous hearings, he explained that he got around P2 million in retirement benefits and about P1 million more in commutation fees.

He also revealed that he is facing charges for violation of Republic Act 8297 and perjury at the Office of the Ombudsman and falsification of documents filed by Cam before the Pasay City Prosecutors’ Office.

Also present during yesterday’s hearings was businessman Leon Katigbak, close friend of Mrs. Arroyo’s eldest son, Pampanga Rep. Mikey Arroyo, who was implicated in the jueteng controversy by witness Wilfredo Mayor.

Katigbak read a statement debunking Mayor’s allegations that he had been involved in jueteng.

"Why mention this only now? Apparently, he has been using his free time to craft more lies against people to support the other previous embellishments he has manufactured. This practice must be stopped," Katigbak said.

Appearing for the first time in the Senate inquiry, Katigbak explained that his failure to attend the June 6 hearing was due to an extended stay in the United States.

For his part Mayor asked the Senate committee what protection the Senate could offer him and his family if he testifies before the Senate hearings.

Meanwhile, jueteng whistleblower Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz said he has two more witnesses who will testify that jueteng payola was used during last year’s polls.

Cruz said the witnesses had personal involvement in the use of jueteng money in past elections.

"What they know is quite relevant, because they have direct knowledge of how money was used for election purposes... My only demand is they tell the truth. Even people who are dirty can tell the truth," Cruz said.