Chiz urges Arroyo brothers to claim ownership of 2 helicopters

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Francis Escudero urged former first gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo and his brother Negros Occidental Rep. Ignacio “Iggy” Arroyo to claim ownership of the two helicopters parked and unused at the hangar and save themselves from tax evasion charges.

Interviewed over radio dwIZ, Escudero said that the claims of the Arroyos that the helicopters were leased from Robinson Helicopter Inc. of the United States through LionAir Inc. would mean that they should have paid taxes for this.

Based on the testimony provided by the former bookkeeper of the Arroyos’ LTA Inc., no taxes were ever paid for the lease of the helicopters, which Escudero said was clearly a violation of the tax laws.

But if they claim ownership of the two choppers, he said the tax liability would fall on the company that sold them and not the Arroyos.

“So they make a decision, admit that they own the choppers and free themselves from a tax evasion case or insist that they don’t own the choppers, that they are merely renting these and face the charges of tax evasion,” Escudero said in Filipino.

LionAir Inc. president Archibald Po said that the two choppers are just parked at the hangar unutilized and some maintenance work is being done but no one is claiming ownership.

He insists that the former first gentleman is the real owner of the choppers but the latter has denied this.

“They are pointing to each other as to who owns the choppers. Po says that FG is the owner. What happens if the rent for the hangar is not paid? I said that we have a situation where no one wants to claim ownership of the two choppers,” Escudero said.

He said if no one owns up soon, then the government can take the two choppers as payment for the taxes owed for either the lease or the sale.

“At least the PNP (Philippine National police) would end up on top with two additional choppers. These may be secondhand but at least they will get it for free this time around and not overpriced (like before),” he added.

CA upholds habeas corpus

Meanwhile, the Court of Appeals (CA) has granted a habeas corpus petition seeking the release of Rowena del Rosario, the former bookkeeper of LTA Inc. who was detained at the Senate for contempt during inquiry into the alleged anomalies hounding PNP’s purchase of helicopters in 2009.

In a resolution, the 11th division of the appellate court issued a writ ordering the Senate Blue Ribbon committee to present Del Rosario to the court and justify her detention, according to her lawyer Nunilo Marapao Jr.

However, the case is already considered moot and academic since the Senate has released Del Rosario from detention.

In a 23-page petition filed last Tuesday, Del Rosario’s husband Rolly asked the appeals court to order the Senate committee to first present the detained witness before the court and to “provisionally release her pending the hearing of the case or at least be admitted to bail.”

He also asked the court to summon the respondents — Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, Blue Ribbon chair Teofisto Guingona III, and Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Jose Balajadia — to show cause of the detention of Mrs. del Rosario.

Through Marapao, petitioner alleged that the senators acted arbitrarily, unjustly, unfairly and unlawfully in ordering the arrest and detention of his wife, who testified before the panel on Monday.

The lawyer questioned the arrest order, which allegedly violated Mrs. Del Rosario’s constitutional rights and was a blatant disregard of the Senate rules in relation to inquiries in aid of legislation.

Del Rosario’s lawyer likewise pointed out in his petition that for a contempt order to be valid, the members of the committee should be physically present to vote.

“This was not present in the case. There were not enough votes to consider the contempt order valid, as the votes of the senators who were not present cannot be counted,” Marapao said, quoting from the petition.

In his petition, Del Rosario also pointed out that his wife’s constitutional rights were violated, as she was subjected to a barrage of irrelevant, improper or insulting questions, and harsh or insulting demeanor from senators even though she had fully cooperated and answered them the best way she could.

He lamented that “legislative inquiries have been exploited as an opportunity to grandstand, to earn political fame, and even to pursue personal vendetta.”

The petition likewise stated that the members of the Blue Ribbon committee committed grave abuse of discretion and authority, turning their hearing into an unconstitutional proceeding when it questioned del Rosario.

He said “the senators could not, in aid of legislation, assume the function of courts and put invited resource persons in trial by publicity.” — Edu Punay