RESADO TURNS TABLES ON PDEA

Agency Lawyer Says Prosecutor Twisted Story

A government lawyer linked to an alleged bribery attempt in a
celebrated drugs case seemed to have admitted that money was dangled
before him--but his accusers got it all wrong on where the offer came from.

State Prosecutor John Resado from the Department of Justice told
lawmakers on Friday that Alvaro Lazaro, a lawyer from the Philippine
Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), had attempted to bribe him in
exchange for his dismissal of drug-trafficking charges against the
"Alabang Boys"--three rich young men entrapped by the agency in
September 2008.

Earlier, Resado was accused by Marine Maj. Ferdinand Marcelino of
the agency's Special Enforcement Services of sharing in the P50
million that the camp of the "Alabang Boys" had thrown the way of
the government lawyer and three other prosecutors and Justice
Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor.

He denied the accusation, but it apparently forced Justice Secretary
Raul Gonzalez to order the National Bureau of Investigation to step
into the case. Last week, the bureau exonerated the four prosecutors
and Blancaflor of bribe-taking.

During a hearing of the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs, Resado
pointed to Lazaro as the one who had tried to bribe him on condition
that he should drop the charges against the "Alabang Boys."

And Lazaro allegedly called when he was investigating the case, to
say that Senior State Prosecutor Philip Kimpo was OK with dismissing
the drug case, Resado said.

Kimpo is one of the state prosecutors implicated in the alleged
bribery attempt.

According to Resado, Lazaro also told him that he would talk to
anti-drug agency officials Marcelino and the agency's chief,
Director General Dionisio Santiago, to speed up the dismissal of the charges.

Lazaro said he would mess up documents on the case of the "Alabang
Boys," so that it would be thrown out, and that he would be the one
to take care of Marcelino and Santiago, Resado testified before a
House committee.

All about the money

According to Resado, he believed that Lazaro was worried that he
would not get any commission from the bribe money if the contacts of
the "Alabang Boys" went directly to him. Earlier, he scotched
allegations that the P50-million bribery attempt was for real.

"Natatakot si Atty. Lazaro na baka dumiretso sa akin ang magbibigay
ng bribe at hindi siya makatikim [Atty. Lazaro was afraid that the
one who would give the bribe would go directly to me, and if that
happened, he would not have a taste of the money]," the embattled
state prosecutor said.

Resado also told the House committee that Lazaro asked for the
immediate dismissal of the case in order for the "Alabang Boys" to
be set free at once instead of the accused having to wait for
execution of a waiver and having to undergo preliminary
investigation while in detention. The amount of the alleged bribe
offer from the camp of the accused was not mentioned by Resado.

"He [Lazaro] called me several times on September 20 and 21 [last
year]. You can check it with the NTC [National Telecommunications
Commission] and trace the calls from him," he suggested to the lawmakers.

Twisted story

Lazaro denied Resado's accusations, saying they were made after the
fact that the case was recommended for dropping through a resolution
that Resado had written. The actual dismissal, however, did not
happen because the Justice secretary did not sign a release order
for the "Alabang Boys."

Instead, Gonzalez subjected the case to "automatic review."

Lazaro did admit that he had made the calls to Resado to inquire
about the "Alabang Boys" case. He said he has been handling drug
cases since 1995.

"It [that I accepted the alleged bribe] exposes the fallacy of his
[Resado's] mind. I admit that I called him asking for assistance but
the bribe offer that he claims I made is simply not true," the PDEA
lawyer also told the lawmakers.

Suspicious deposits

During the hearing, Resado admitted making an P800,000 deposit at
the Banco de Oro branch in SM North Edsa in Quezon City on December
2, 2008, the day he released the resolution.

He presented his passbook to show that he and his wife Rowena were
engaged in the money-lending business. Deposits, Resado said, have
been made since March 2002, with the amounts ranging from P50,000 to P300,000.

According to him, he felt bad that the deposits were revealed. "I am
reserving my right to file a case against the bank and the employee
who disclosed my accounts," he said. Resado added that he also was
reserving the right to waive the opening of his bank accounts.

But Kimpo told the committee that he was willing to waive the Bank
Secrecy Law and have his bank accounts opened since he has nothing
to hide. Kimpo had authority to recommend approval of the Resado resolution.

The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) is set to probe Resado's
bank accounts.

Its deputy director, Richard David Funk, told the House Committee on
Dangerous Drugs that they would be able to investigate the accounts
even without securing a court order and waiver from Resado.

Funk explained that the case must be distinguished as a
"drug-related" issue besides alleged incidence of corruption to
resolve questions on the council's jurisdiction.

Resado was singled out in a letter from an anonymous source who
claimed that he received part of the alleged P50-million bribe upon
dismissing the "Alabang Boys" case. The letter was sent to the
National Bureau of Investigation on December 15.

He requested the committee not to disclose the names of persons who
he said were the sources of the money in his bank accounts. The
committee then considered probing the accounts in an executive session.

Under Republic Act 1405, or the Bank Secrecy Law, bank deposits of
whatever nature are absolutely confidential. It prohibits
examination of or inquiry into such deposits by any person or office.

Republic Act 9160, or the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001,
meanwhile, relaxes bank secrecy laws upon establishing that proceeds
from unlawful activities, which include drug trafficking and graft
and corrupt practices, are transacted to make them appear to come
from legitimate sources.

Independent panel

The Department of Justice also on Friday constituted the independent
panel ordered formed by the President to look into the alleged
P50-million bribe.

Gonzalez said the three-man team would be headed by retired Supreme
Court Justice Carolina Grino-Aquino, with retired Sandiganbayan
Justice Raoul Victorino and Fr. Ranhilio Aquino, dean of the San
Beda Graduate School, as members.

Aquino last year also led the Supreme Court's three-man probe team
that looked into the Court of Appeals bribery scandal in connection
with the controversial boardroom battle between the Manila Electric
Co. and the Government Service Insurance System.

The independent panel should have been composed of six members, but
Gonzalez reduced the number to three, which Grino-Aquino set as a
pre-condition before she agreed to head the team. It will start the
probe early next week.

Besides the "Alabang Boys"--Richard Santos Brodett, Jorge Jordana
Joseph and Joseph Ramirez Tecson--the panel is expected to summon
Resado, Blancaflor, Kimpo, Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuno and
State Prosecutor Misael Ladaga.