Lacson laments over ruling of Perez case

MANILA, Philippines - The dismissal of a six-year-old extortion case against former justice secretary Hernando Perez was a supreme show of irony, opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson lamented. Lacson said that while there was enough evidence provided by no less than Swiss prosecutors, a technicality involving a right to speedy trial caused Perez to go scot-free. "Yan ang irony. Maliwanag galing sa Swiss prosecutor ang dokumento authentic, validated, talagang may deposito na kulang-kulang $2 million; tapos marinig natin dahil sa pag-invoke ng speedy trial nagkaroon ng dismissal at di kasalanan ng Filipino taxpayer na matagal mag-file ng information ang Ombudsman (That's the irony. It is clear that Swiss prosecutors provided authentic, validated documents that Perez had $2 million in deposits. But because of the right to speedy trial, the 'delay' by the Ombudsman caused the dropping of charges against him)," he said. But he said there is nothing much that can be done because it is "the system." "That's the system, ang wheel of justice ganoon talaga mag-grind (that's the way the wheel of justice grinds). But we must keep hoping and we must keep struggling to really serve justice," he said. Earlier, the anti-graft court junked a six-year-old robbery-extortion and graft case against Perez, his wife Rosario, and associates Ernest Escaler and Ramon Arceo. In a 10-page resolution penned by Associate Justice Edilberto Sandoval, the court said the Ombudsman lost its authority to file the case due to a violation of the right to speedy trial. On Dec. 23, 2002, then Manila Rep. Mark Jimenez filed before the Ombudsman plunder and other cases against Perez, accusing him of extorting $2 million. This was supposedly in exchange for Perez to stop forcing Jimenez to execute damaging affidavits against certain individuals in the Estrada administration. Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez issued a resolution ordering the filing of charges only in January 2007. - GMANews.TVM