Resado: Bank account no, bank statements yes

MANILA, Philippines - Embattled state prosecutor John Resado on Friday backtracked from his earlier assurance that he will waive his right to the secrecy of his bank accounts to the independent fact-finding panel formed by Malacañang. A GMA Flash Report quoted Resado's lawyer Edinburg Tumuran as saying that instead of signing a waiver, Resado will just show the three-man panel next week bank statements certified by the Banco de Oro branch in Bacoor, Cavite. Tumuran said it was Resado's right to refuse to waive his right to the secrecy of his bank accounts, as waiving his right will allow the Anti Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to scrutinize Resado's accounts including the source of the prosecutor's deposits. Resado made the refusal after some members of the House of Representatives threatened to file charges against him. During its hearing on Thursday, the House committee on dangerous drugs approved a motion to recommend the filing of perjury charges against Resado before the Office of the Ombudsman for his failure to declare his lending business - which he said is one of the sources of the P800,000 deposited into his BDO account on December 2 - in his statement of assets and liabilities. Resado penned the controversial December 2 resolution dismissing the case against young drug suspects Richard Brodett, Jorge Jordana Joseph, and Joseph Tecson. Resado, along with other Department of Justice (DOJ) officials, have been accused of accepting bribes from the suspects' affluent families. All DOJ officials implicated in the controversy, however, have denied being bribed. Authorities urged Resado to waive his right to the secrecy of his bank accounts after a certain Juan de la Cruz alleged in an anonymous letter that P800,000 was deposited into the joint bank account of Resado and his wife on December 2 as a bribe for the case's dismissal. While Resado admitted during the House panel's hearings that such an amount was deposited into his BDO bank account that day, the state prosecutor said he made the deposit himself and that that the money came from his various investments including the reportedly undeclared lending business. - GMANews.TV