MANILA, Philippines - The Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food filed perjury charges on Friday against businessman Davidson Bangayan.
Television and radio reports said the Senate panel, which was represented by lawyer Horace Cruda, filed the complaint before the National Prosecution Service.
Last Monday, Bangayan attended the Senate committee hearing on rice smuggling and insisted that he and alleged rice smuggling "David Tan" are not one and the same.
Bangayan stood firm on his claim even if Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile showed an affidavit executed by the businessman himself in a 2005 libel case.
In that document, Bangayan supposedly referred to himself as "David Tan."
But Bangayan explained that he only signed the affidavit as "Davidson Bangayan" and not "also known as David Tan."
"That is based on the complaint on the newspaper. Maybe my lawyer did not, at that time, correct it," Bangayan said.
Bangayan's denial prompted senators to cite him for contempt for lying under oath and ordered the filing of the perjury charges against him.