Resado on P.8 million: I'm a money lender

A state prosecutor accused of receiving a bribe of P800,000 in connection with the “Alabang Boys” drug case said the amount that showed up in his bank account came from his family’s informal lending business.

Prosecutor John Resado presented to the House committee on dangerous drugs a bank passbook and other documents to prove that his deposits were not illegally acquired.

“I did not report it (in my statement of assets and liabilities) because that’s part of the informal economy,” Resado told the committee chaired by Ilocos Norte Rep. Roque Ablan. “Kagaya ng Bumbay yan (It’s like the Indian’s business),” he said, eliciting laughter from the crowd.

Many Indians in the Philippines, usually called Bumbay by Filipinos, are engaged in small-scale informal lending.

He said the amount, which is not P1.6 million as reported in media, represented a “liquidation” of personal investments he and his wife Rowena have maintained since 2001.

“No part of this deposit or any part of any monies that me and my wife have are in any way connected to this case,” he said.

“No other DOJ personnel is involved in that business and no one has knowledge of that account or the deposit,” Resado emphasized.

Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez, a member of the House opposition bloc, said the prosecutor’s claim does not clear him of any liability.

“Still that’s underground business, unreported business and unreported income,” Golez said.

Golez said he was “disturbed” by the “cavalier” attitude of the prosecutor toward the lending business.

Resado said he is contemplating filing charges against Banco de Oro, which he accused of violating the Bank Secrecy Law as well as his rights as depositor.

Later in the afternoon, he asked the committee to give him until Monday to decide if he would allow the Anti-Money Laundering Council to pry into his bank accounts.

“It was accumulated over a long period of time. It’s not just P800,000, it’s P1.2 million,” he said of his bank account. He said he has deposits in another bank amounting to less than half a million pesos.

The questionable P800,000 deposit was revealed in a letter sent anonymously to NBI Director Nestor Mantaring. Justice Secretary Gonzalez ordered an investigation into the matter.

Resado said he did not know of the anonymous letter until ABS-CBN News anchor Cres Drilon sought his comment. The broadcast journalist is suspected by the police of being close to the Magdalo group, to which Maj. Ferdinand Marcelino belonged.

Turning the tables

Also at yesterday’s hearing, Resado turned the tables on PDEA, saying it was its chief legal counsel Alvaro Bernabe Lazaro who offered the bribe to him for the dismissal of the case in September 2008.

Resado raised the allegation under questioning from Quezon City Rep. Matias Defensor.

Resado revealed that Lazaro called him up on his cellular phone during the inquest proceedings in September to seek the dismissal of charges against suspects Richard Brodett, Joseph Tecson and Jorge Joseph in exchange for money.

He said the committee may verify the phone calls with the National Telecommunications Commission.

He said Lazaro informed him that PDEA had prepared a defective complaint against the suspects to make it easier for prosecutors to dismiss it.

He said Lazaro might have resented his turning down the bribe offer.

“If you would notice during the Jan. 6 and 7 hearings, si Atty. Lazaro nanggagalaite. Marahil iniisip niya nabukulan siya at dumiretso sa akin ang nag-offer ng bribe (Atty. Lazaro was fuming mad, maybe because he thought he’d been had because the briber went to me directly),” Resado told the House panel.

Lazaro, who was also present at the House hearing, denied Resado’s allegation. “These statements of Prosecutor Resado are malicious. It exposes the fallacy of his mind,” Lazaro said.

He admitted calling Resado but said it was only in connection with the inquest proceedings and that he wanted to make sure PDEA’s case against the “Alabang Boys” would be filed in court.

The PDEA lawyer also challenged Resado to file a case of attempted bribery against him.

Most lawmakers at the hearing appeared sympathetic to Lazaro and questioned Resado for his belated sharing of sensitive information regarding the drug case.

“This revelation came too late in the day. You do not have to be a lawyer to say that the credibility of a statement which came too late in the day is very low,” Golez said.

South Cotabato Rep. Darlene Antonino Custodio said she was bothered by Resado’s dismissal of the case despite his admission of knowledge of case-fixing.

“The fact that you came up with a resolution dismissing the case, that means you are condoning the fixing. You are a party. You dismissed the case despite knowing the evidence was tainted,” the lady opposition lawmaker said.

Reps. Antonio Cerilles of Zamboanga del Sur, Ruffy Biazon of Muntinlupa City, Elpidio Barzaga Jr. of Cavite, and Niel Tupas Jr. of Iloilo also appeared unconvinced with Resado’s claims.