Villa-Ignacio to critics: I won't resign, try better strategies

MANILA, Philippines – Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio on Friday said his detractors would have to devise a much better game plan to convince him to give up his post at the Office of the Ombudsman. Villa-Ignacio told GMANews.TV in a phone interview that he would not heed the call of a group of deputy special prosecutors asking for his resignation. "I don’t see any reason to resign. Actually, pipilitin ko pang isalba ang Office of the Ombudsman. Kasi kapag hindi, it will just go back to the dark ages," said Villa-Ignacio. "If that’s the best they can do, they have to regroup and get a much better strategy. Huwag na lang natin pansinin iyan. It’s just part of a project to remove me," he added. The Office of the Special Prosecutor is the prosecuting arm of the Office of the Ombudsman, whose operations Villa-Ignacio earlier claimed were being hampered by politics and mismanagement. Earlier in a press conference at the posh Club Filipino in San Juan City, the group of prosecutors, who used to work for Villa-Ignacio before being transferred to the Office of Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, belied his (Villa-Ignacio) allegations and urged him to resign. Villa-Igancio said the press conference was organized by some deputy special prosecutors who were trying to pay up for perks they received in the past. "Iyong iba kasi diyan, pinatikman ng biyahe sa United States, sa Germany, sa Hong Kong. Oh tapos ngayon sinabihan na sila na, ‘Oh, bayad utang na kayo ngayon,’" Villa-Ignacio claimed. (Some of them were treated with trips to the US, Germany, Hong Kong. And now, they are being asked to pay back) Villa-Ignacio stressed that the complaining prosecutors do not represent the sentiment of the entire population at the Office of the Ombudsman, adding that some of its bureau directors have refused to join the call. For those complaining about his management style, Villa-Ignacio said he led the Office of the Special Prosecutor "successfully," noting that their trust rating improved since he took his seat. He said if there was a management style that needed some changes, it was that of the Office of the Ombudsman. He clarified that unlike what his critics had been claiming, he never lets his daughter, Monique Villa-Igancio, interfere with his workings as special prosecutor. He said her daughter, who works as Villa-Ignacio’s executive assistant, was merely another victim in the supposed mud-slinging. “My daughter is upright. She came from Ateneo. She came from a school of nuns," he said. Villa-Ignacio added that Monique was only being targeted because she allegedly unearthed anomalies in the anti-graft body when she once reviewed court decisions that she obtained from the Sandiganbayan and the Supreme Court. - GMANews.TV