Alleged Bicolano smuggler’s lawyer downplays raps

"That does not mean anything."

This was how lawyer Gregorio Chavez dismissed the charges which President Arroyo herself filed against his client, alleged Bicolano smuggler Antonio Chua.

"The only highlight is the presence of President Arroyo. That’s all there is to it. This is just an ordinary case," said Chavez, adding that the charges will eventually be dropped.

Chavez was at the Department of Justice yesterday to represent Chua in the preliminary investigation into the case against his client and one Carlos Carillo.

State prosecutors Josefino Zubia and Alberto Fonacier compose the probe panel.

Without providing further details, Chavez said their basic defense is that Chua was a "mere buyer" of the 35,000 sacks of rice worth P50 million which were spotted in Tabaco, Albay in September 2001 and seized in Mariveles, Bataan a few weeks later.

"My client is mere buyer. That’s all for now. We have a very good defense," he said.

He also belied reports that Chua is hiding. "He is here in the Philippines. We’ll be having coffee with him later. He is not hiding," he said.

Chavez also downplayed insinuations that Chua is a close friend of deposed President Joseph Estrada, which supposedly explains why the Arroyo administration is pinning him down on smuggling charges.

The DOJ panel gave Chua and Carillo until Sept. 12 to file their rebuttals on the charges filed by the Bureau of Customs (BoC).

The two were consignees of the rice shipment that was seized from M/V Criston, later renamed M/V Neptune Breeze.

Their co-respondents, Tabaco Judge Arnulfo Cabredo and lawyer Marcial Lopez, the BoC’s Legazpi district collector, were told to appear on Aug. 29. They face a separate probe because the charges against them were filed belatedly.

Cabredo caught the ire of Mrs. Arroyo due to the temporary restraining order he had issued which stopped Customs agents from confiscating the suspected smuggled shipment, while Lopez was included as respondent for not doing anything to take custody of the alleged contraband.

They were tagged as "co-conspirators" of Chua and Carillo.

Last Aug. 15, Mrs. Arroyo issued marching orders to Justice Secretary Hernando Perez, during her visit to the DOJ, to make sure that Cabredo be criminally held liable under the law.

"I would like Secretary Perez to exhaust all means within his authority to bring Judge Cabredo before the very bar of justice that he has sworn to uphold. I want this done the soonest possible time," she told reporters.