Whistleblowers group seeks probe vs ex-Makati vice mayor Ernesto Mercado

A group of whistleblowers group has joined calls for a probe on the alleged involvement of former Makati Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado in the hiding of Joel and Mario Reyes, suspects in the killing of Gerardo "Gerry" Ortega in January 2011.

 

Sandra Cam, president of the Whistleblowers Association of the Philippines, said she would prefer if the Senate or the House of Representatives would lead the probe, since she has doubts on the impartiality of a Department of Justice-led investigation.

 

Cam urged the Justice department to remove Mercado from the Witness Protection Program, which earlier gave him government protection for his testimony in the Senate on corruption allegations against Vice President Jejomar Binay and his family.

 

Among the allegations of Mercado were the supposed overpricing in the Makati City Hall Building II and anomalous deals in the Boy Scout of the Philippines, of which Binay is the president.

 

"I am calling for his expulsion from the WPP of the DOJ because as far as I know sa WPP, hindi dapat gumagamit ng cellphone ang witnesses. Dapat tanggalin si Mercado because he was aiding and communicating with a fugitive," Cam told reporters.

 

Cam's statement came a day after reports came out that the Philippine National Police had retrieved call data and short message service (SMS) records of the Reyes brothers communicating with their associates, one of which was Mercado, while hiding in Thailand.

 

The Reyes brothers allegedly slipped out of the country in March 2012, a few days before arrest warrants were issued against them. The two reportedly flew to Vietnam, with Joel Reyes supposedly using a fake passport under the name "Joseph Lim Pe." 

 

The brothers were arrested two weeks ago in Phuket Thailand. They were brought back to the Philippine in the early hours of September 25, and are currently detained at the Puerto Princesa CIty Jail in Palawan.

 

"May process iyan bago makagamit ang isang witness ng phone, dapat humingi ng permission sa guwardiya. So does it mean, pinayagan siya [Mercado] ng DOJ? Paanong kahit nasa Senado siya, nako-contact siya ng Reyes brothers," said Cam.

 

Cam claimed having "A1 information" to corroborate claims made by the PNP about the communication between Mercado and the Reyes brothers, while the former were in hiding.

 

The Reyes brothers' case was among the instances cited by Cam in June in which the Department of Justice had allegedly displayed its "double standards" in dealing with individuals seeking admission to the Witness Protection Program.

 

On Thursday, Cam reiterated that the Reyes brothers' three-year evasion from arrest was a "very concrete example of the double standards" of De Lima, whom Cam pointed out was a former election lawyer of Joel Reyes.

 

Cam said neither the DOJ nor the National Bureau of Investigation did anything to track down the Reyes brothers. 

 

"It was people from the PNP who found the Reyes brothers. Hindi totoo na nag-surrender sila but they were arrested. They were already in surveillance, not by the NBI, but by the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group," she said.

 

Cam appeared at the Senate in June 2014 to oppose the confirmation of De Lima before the Commission on Appointments.

 

The camp of Vice President Jejomar Binay, through its spokesman for political affairs Rico Quicho, had already urged the DOJ to remove Mercado from the WPP if an investigation by the agency would prove he communicated with the Reyes brothers while they were on the run from government authorities.

 

Asked how Mercado and the Reyeses came to know each other, Cam said the men were known in the cockfighting circuit.

 

"Joel Reyes and Vice Mayor Mercado have the same vice, sabong. They are sabongeros. They are politicians who always gamble in sabong... It's public knowledge na kahit kristo (bet takers) ng sabungan, kilala sila," Cam said.

 

Cam said if De Lima would not remove Mercado from the WPP, she hoped the Justice secretary's successor would. De Lima is set to retire from the DOJ for a possible Senate bid.

 

"Sana iyong pumalit kay De Lima ay totoong secretary of justice, hindi iyong secretary of justice of PNoy," she said.

 

Cam said De Lima's actions over the cases of the Reyes brothers, who belong to the ruling Liberal Party, betray the Aquino administration's campaign of "Tuwid na Daan."

 

"Ang tuwid na daan, hindi lang sa isang gobyerno. Every single Filipino has a right to a right path in government. Hindi ito tuwid na daan ng Aquino administration," she said.  — ELR, GMA News