DOJ urged to act on case vs Sigaw members

The daughter of Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay on Thursday asked the Department of Justice (DOJ) to resolve the falsification of public documents cases she filed against pro-charter change advocates led by Sigaw ng Bayan spokesman Raul Lambino last year. Abigail, a lawyer and counsel for residents who were named as plaintiff in the complaint against Lambino’s group, said the cases were filed against the respondents 10 months ago but no action has been taken by the prosecutor’s office. She said the individual complaints filed by Makati residents Gloria Rodriguez, Franklin Jara, Dwayne Samarista, Virginia Sannega, Victor Del Prado, Hugo Villaroman and Edwin Vittali against Lambino, Sigaw ng Bayan’s Efren de Luna, Akbay Pinoy officers Carmencita Tabamo, Adelaida Lazaro and three other unidentified individuals stemmed from the alleged falsification of signatures on pro-Charter Change documents submitted by Lambino’s group before the Commission on Elections (Comelec). “The failure of the DOJ to act on these cases reinforces the observation that when it comes to critics of the Arroyo administration, the DOJ is quick to issue resolutions, but takes its time when the cases involve allies of the administration," Abigail said. She said the DOJ’s lack of action on their complaint against Lambino’s group was in dire contrast to the DOJ’s swift action on the more that 20 years case of Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo and Anakpawis Rep. Crispin Beltran. She said Lambino and de Luna were included in the charge sheet based on the statement by Tabamo that her group was working under the instruction of Sigaw ng Bayan. In her complaint, Rodriguez, a widow, said her signatures of her deceased husband, Olivo Rodriguez, were falsified in the forms submitted to the Makati Comelec by Sigaw ng Bayan and Akbay Pinoy. Abigail said the signature of former Sta. Cruz barangay (village) chief Severino Victorino was also included in the documents, although Victorino passed away in 2005. In a one-page affidavit, Sannega, a resident of Kalayaan Avenue, Sta. Cruz, Makati, said she filed the complaint against Akbay Pinoy after learning that the signature of her late uncle appeared in the documents submitted to the Comelec. Sannega said that on April 17, she learned that a certain Carmencita Tabamo of Akbay Pinoy, with office address at 173-B Tandang Sora Avenue, Quezon City, submitted to the Comelec duly accomplished signature sheets containing the names of qualified registered voters from the first district of Makati. Victor del Prado, barangay head of Sta. Cruz who succeeded Victorino, said he also found out that his name, address, precinct number and signature were part of the signature sheet submitted for Barangay Sta. Cruz. - GMANews.TV