DOJ confirms plan to clear 2 co-accused of Abalos

MANILA, Philippines - Justice Secretary Leila de Lima confirmed yesterday government prosecutors’ plan to clear two co-accused of former Commission on Elections (Comelec) chair Benjamin Abalos in the case involving fraud in the 2007 polls in Mindanao.

Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes meanwhile clarified that the poll body will pursue the case against former poll supervisors Yogie Martirizar and Lilian Radam.

De Lima was reacting to a statement by Abalos’ son, Mandaluyong Mayor Benhur Abalos, on Tuesday about an alleged plan of the poll body to withdraw information against Radam and Martirizar.

The younger Abalos claimed that a resolution is being circulated among Comelec commissioners for the withdrawal of criminal information filed with the Pasay regional trial court in 2008 against the two, whose testimonies before a joint probe of Comelec and the Department of Justice (DOJ) last year led to the indictment of his father.

Citing a highly placed source in the poll body, the mayor said the commissioners are set to tackle the resolution in their summer session in Baguio City tomorrow. 

“I’m sure no resolution to that effect is circulating at the Comelec. We’ll be having a special en banc (meeting today) and that is not in the agenda. Maybe it’s just a rumor,” Brillantes said.

But he admitted that there were loose discussions among commissioners to make the two state witnesses but this did not prosper.

“It was a proposal a long time ago to make them state witnesses but we have not made a decision on that. In fact we have not taken that up anymore,” he added.

Crucial testimonies

De Lima, however, contested the claim of Abalos’ camp that Radam and Martirizar cannot qualify as state witnesses because they are not the least guilty in the alleged crime.

“Our position is that they should really be discharged as state witnesses because they are the ones who directly pointed to the masterminds or those from whom the instruction to manipulate, fabricate results of the elections in North Cotabato and South Cotabato came from,” she told reporters in an ambush interview.

She said the testimonies of the two poll officials implicating Abalos in the election fraud were “too serious” and “very crucial” that they should be prosecution witnesses.

“Maybe they should read the rules of court, there’s nothing there that says those that can be discharged as state witnesses are those that are considered least guilty. The exact wording of the rules of court is ‘does not appear to be the most guilty.’ There’s a big difference. You may not be the least guilty but for as long as you are not the most guilty, you can still be state witness,” she explained.

De Lima stressed that President Aquino’s administration is determined to hold officials of the previous administration involved in various anomalies accountable.

But she admitted it would take the cooperation of a co-accused to get the “big fish.”

“Sometimes there are cases where it’s hard to achieve conviction of big fish because there’s no other evidence but testimony of co-accused. That’s why it’s a practical necessity to be able to secure conviction by considering certain co-accused as state witnesses,” she said.

The DOJ is aiding the Comelec in prosecuting the poll fraud case against Abalos and other former officials, including former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Abalos and Arroyo are now detained since poll fraud is a non-bailable offense. The case is being heard by Pasay RTC Branch 112.