Santiago Warns Assasins

MANILA, Philippines -- Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago vowed to defend her reputation “to death” against any attempts to assassinate her character by the camps of either Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno or Philippine National Police Director General Jesus Verzosa.

Santiago issued the warning before leaving the hearing of the Senate foreign relations committee, which she heads.

The Senate is investigating retired PNP comptroller Eliseo dela Paz over an incident in Russia where he and his wife were briefly detained at the Moscow Airport after they were found with millions of pesos worth of euros, which they failed to declare as they were on their way back to Manila.

Dela Paz and several police generals attended an Interpol-sponsored forum in St. Petersburg from Oct. 7-10.

“Please don’t activate your pubic relations firms in what will become a very obvious attempt to assassinate our characters. We’re performing our duties and if you challenge us in that way, I assure you we shall rise up to your challenge and we shall let the stronger force prevail,” she said.

“I’m not referring to physical force. I’m referring to my moral force as senator elected by the Republic,” she said.

Santiago said she would not slow down even if her would critics use some corrupt practitioners in the media to attack her like what happened when she first investigated an anomaly within the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) during the time of former president Joseph Estrada. Puno was also the DILG chief then.

The anomaly Santiago was referring to was the alleged attempt to monopolize the drug testing services in the country.

“I will know where it’s coming from and I assure you gentlemen, you try again and assassinate my character it might be possible that I shall defend myself with [the full force of the law] that you can even dream of,” said the senator.

“I shall defend my reputation to the death. I challenge any of you, just lift a finger, lift the phone, call your PR persons, call character assassins and we shall see an ethics problem,” she further said


PNP mum on Dela Paz no show at Senate


By Abigail Kwok


MANILA, Philippines -- The Philippine National Police (PNP) is mum on the absence of retired comptroller Eliseo dela Paz at the Senate, which is investigating him and his wife following their brief detention in Russia for being in possession of multimillion pesos worth of euros.

Chief Superintendent Nicanor Bartolome, PNP spokesman, refused to grant media any interview but said that the PNP has no jurisdiction over Dela Paz because he was already treated as a “civilian.”

Bartolome did not issue other reactions and asked media to wait for the end of the Senate investigation into the incident.

Calls made to Dela Paz were left unanswered.

Members of the media tried to enter the quarters of Dela Paz inside the Camp Crame national police headquarters but were blocked by security in the area.



Senate orders Dela Paz arrest

But majority of probers need to sign warrant--OIC

By Maila Ager




‘MANILA, Philippines -- (UPDATE 4) Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago has ordered the arrest of former Philippine National Police comptroller Eliseo dela Paz after he failed to appear at Thursday’s Senate investigation into the incident in Russia.

Santiago’s directive came after the committee agreed to dismiss a motion filed by Dela Paz’s lawyer, Noel Malaya, to quash the subpoena issued to his client and his wife, which questioned the jurisdiction of the committee over the issue.

“Sergeant [Jose]Balajadia, in behalf of the Senate foreign relations committee have been issued subpoenas ad testifi candum and subpoena duces tecum to General Dela Paz, and his wife, and in view of their deliberate absent here, I command you, arrest him now and bring him here if possible,” said Santiago, chairman of the foreign relations committee.

Balajadia is the sergeant-at-arms of the Senate.

And to Malaya, Santiago said, “Counsel, you have a right to appeal my ruling to the Supreme Court,” which in a later interview, the lawyer said he would this Friday.

But Senator Pia Cayetano, officer-in-charge while Senate President Manuel Villar is out of the country, said that the upper House might not be able to issue the warrant just yet because majority of the members was needed to vote on or either sign the order before this could be effected.

Cayetano cited Section 18 of the Senate rules in which a vote or signature by the majority of a committee was needed to issue a warrant of against any person.

So far, Cayetano said, only Santiago, out of the 15 members in the committee on foreign relations, had signed the arrest warrant against Dela Paz.

While she believed that the majority vote was not an “absolute requirement,” Cayetano said she would have to consult first with Villar and the legal department of the Senate before acting on the warrant of arrest.

“To follow Section 18, mukhang ganun ang sitwasyon [it looks like that’s the situation],” Cayetano said when asked if the Senate could then not issue the arrest warrant within the day.

“But I like baka mamaya biglang meron tapos sabihin niyo, o sabi ni Cayetano [later there might be something and then you’ll tell me, but Cayetano said]…I’m only the OIC. I take my orders from the Senate President and again with the legal backing so we have to ensure na tama ang ginagawa natin [that what we are doing is right],” she said.

A six-page motion entitled “Challenge to jurisdiction with motion to quash the subpoena” was filed by the Malaya, Sanchez, Anover, Anover and Simpao Law Office just before the committee began its hearing at exactly 10 a.m. on Thursday.

The petition said the committee has no jurisdiction on the issue because it did not involve relations between states and it has no legislative purpose.

It also cited the lack of published Senate rules before conducting the hearing.

Santiago countered that her committee has jurisdiction over the issue as it involved relations between the Philippines and Russia.

Under the rules governing inquiries in aid of legislation, the senator said the committee was not bound by technical rule of evidence “unless the substantive rights of the person are involved.”

“What substantive rights of your client, General dela Paz, are involved? His right perhaps to self-incrimination. That is also dealt with in our rules,” she said.

“In our rules, you can’t invoke the right of self incrimination as a blanket defense to even appearing and testifying. He can only invoke it per question so he has to wait for the question to be asked, and then invoke it,” she said.

Santiago then asked Dela Paz’s counsel to explain his absence in the hearing.

Malaya said they advised their client not to attend the hearing to protect his rights.

“We had a discussion in a conference last night regarding to the steps that we have to take to protect his right, your honor and since we have filed this challenge to the motion your honor, we have deemed it best that we wait with the committee decision,” he told the committee.

Dela Paz’s absence angered Santiago.

“Sinasabi niyang [He is saying] I have nothing to hide tapos ngayon bigla na lang [and then all of a sudden he won’t attend]. Ano yun, nag-aartista ba siya nahimasmasan na siya [What is that, is he acting, has he been appeased]?” she said.

“Remember the rule -- he who is innocent is as brave as a lion. E di pumunta ka dito kung wala kang kasalanan [Then come here if you’re not at fault]. Ano ang tinatago mo na ayaw mong magpakita [What are you hiding that you don’t want to come here]? Ano ang gusto mong itago [What do you want to hide]? she asked.

Cayetano said Dela Paz should walk around with “fear” after he had caused a “national embarrassment” when he failed to declare the multimillion peso worth of euros in his recent trip to Moscow.

“He [Dela Paz] should fear. He should roam around with fear after what he did,” she said.

“If any of us knows that we’re in a foreign country and had created by our actions something that is, let me call it a national embarrassment, wouldn’t you be a little bit fearful, at least embarrassed, to walk around? I think you should. I think you should feel accountable,” she said.

“And if there’s nothing to fear,” the senator said, “I would think that the first, the normal reaction was to explain, wala ho akong tinatago, then I will walk around freely. Kung ayaw mong i-explain, parang meron kang tinatago [If you don’t like to explain, it’s like you’re hiding something].”

Present at the hearing were PNP Director General Jesus Verzosa, Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno, Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan, among others.

Aside from Santiago, committee members present are Majority Leader Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, Minority Floor Leader Aquilino Pimentel, Senators Manuel "Mar" Roxas and Juan Miguel Zubiri.

Dela Paz was briefly held at the Moscow International Airport while returning home last October 11 for not declaring the 105, 000 euros or P6.9 million cash he was carrying.

He was part of the eight-man delegation for the 77th Interpol General Assembly held at St. Petersburg in Moscow from October 7 to 10.

Dela Paz had apologized for the incident but denied any wrongdoing.

He said he took the money from his P10 million cash advance bonded authority as a standby fund for the delegation.


House cancels Dela Paz probe





MANILA, Philippines -- The House of Representatives has cancelled its inquiry on the police general caught in Russia with millions of pesos worth of undeclared cash -- a move that some opposition lawmakers suspect was part of an effort to cover up those involved in the controversy.

The hearing was originally scheduled at 9 a.m. Friday under the committee on public order and safety.

Committee chairman Representative Rodolfo Antonino said the committee could not muster the required number of members to open the investigation.

But Bayan Muna partylist Representatives Satur Ocampo and Teodoro Casiño, who filed Resolution No. 843 calling for the investigation, said the cancellation was questionable.

"We now see the hand of Malacañang in apparent efforts to cover up the PNP euro generals controversy in the cancellation of the House probe on the issue," the legislators said in a statement.

"The House majority would not give its consensus to the minority for the committee on public order and safety to take the issue into its jurisdiction despite the sordid fact that what Dela Paz and company did to further sully the country's corrupt image in the international arena. The PNP leadership as law enforcers is again highly questionable since they are shielding their own law breakers that have brought the country additional shame," they said.

The resolution had directed the committee to conduct an inquiry "on the unusually large PNP contingent" to the Interpol meet from October 7 to 10.

The resolution has yet to be referred to the committee on rules because Congress was still on break. However, under the rules, the committee can open the inquiry on its own if it can muster majority members. In the case of the committee of public order and safety, 25 congressmen are needed to be present.

Antonino said it was difficult to gather the required number of congressmen because session was on break and this was the time that the lawmakers would go back to their congressional districts.

The Senate began its own inquiry Thursday, but retired comptroller Eliseo dela Paz, who is at the center of the controversy, did not attend, prompting Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, chairman of the foreign relations committee, to order his arrest.

Dela Paz and his wife were stopped at the Moscow Airport with at least P6.9 million worth of currency, way beyond the amount legally allowed travelers.

Parañaque Representative Roilo Golez said the police generals, especially Dela Paz had a lot of explaining to do to the public.

"The big question is: what happened to director Dela Paz. He should tell all. He has a very good service reputation and has avoided controversy until, ironically, a few days after retirement," Golez said.