House ethics panel won't touch 2 Oriental Mindoro solons

MANILA, Philippines – The House ethics committee is unlikely to touch the case involving two Oriental Mindoro lawmakers earlier convicted by the Sandiganbayan on graft charges. "It seems it is already out of our jurisdiction," said Romblon Representative Eleandro Madrona, committee chair. Madrona said his committee can only conduct an inquiry into the case involving Rodolfo Valencia (1st district) and Alfonso Umali Jr (2nd district) if House Speaker Prospero Nograles orders the committee to do so; if a third party files a complaint before the committee; or if a House member files a resolution seeking an inquiry. Besides, Madrona noted that the charges wherein Umali and Valencia were found guilty of occurred nearly 15 years ago when the two lawmakers were still provincial officials. He added that even if they are ordered to conduct an inquiry or a formal complaint or resolution is filed, the ethics panel cannot deliberate on the case as long as Court proceedings are ongoing. "In events like this, assuming there's a complaint, our mandate says we have to suspend deliberations when there's a pending criminal action of the same issue," he said. For his part, Umali said: "This is an unfortunate decision which may have overlooked many factual and legal issues, and may have failed to consider my ministerial involvement in this particular case." "I was merely a provincial administrator who had no discretion but to implement in all honesty and good faith, a lawful order passed by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, and approved by the governor," he added. Valencia and Umali, along with four others, were found guilty of graft by the Sandiganbayan's Fourth Division for granting a P2.5 million loan to a private individual in 1994 when Valencia was still Oriental Mindoro governor and Umali, provincial administrator. With the approval of the then provincial board, the two granted the loan to engineer Alfredo Atienza for the "repair, operation, and maintenance" of his transport vessel MV Ace. In a 29-page decision Tuesday, the Sandiganbayan declared the two solons and four of their co-accused--then provincial vice-governor and provincial board presiding officer Pedrito Reyes and board members Jose Enriquez and Jose Leynes--guilty of violating Section 3-E and Section 3-G of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti- Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. They were sentenced to six to 10 years in prison and penalized with perpetual disqualification from public office. Atienza was also sentenced with a six to ten-year prison term. Valencia and Umali will file a motion for reconsideration before the Sandiganbayan within the week, Umali said in a text message on Tuesday. For his part, Nograles said they will wait for the final decision of the Court on the issue. "We are saddened by the news about our colleagues in the House. But since this is a purely judicial proceeding, we await the finality of the decision as the accused still have the right to appeal the decision," Nograles told reporters in a text message. - GMANews.TV