Rizal prosecutor slapped with graft charges

MANILA, Philippines – A prosecutor in Rizal province is facing charges for violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for supposedly extorting money and asking favors from a litigant’s husband. Rizal provincial prosecutor Alexander Antonio, who was presented before Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez on Monday, is accused of asking some P20,000 and a rooster from Romeo Gasalao in exchange for clearing Gasalao’s wife from the charges lodged against her. Gasalao said that Antonio took his mobile phone number on May 6 and arranged for a meeting at a fast food joint. They met on May 7 when Antonio supposedly made the demand. Gasalao, however, reported the incident to the police, which subsequently set an entrapment operation on May 16. Antonio was arrested during the operation after taking a rooster and marked money amounting to P10,000. He was later found positive for fluorescent powder used in entrapment operations. The prosecutor, however, contested that the operation was a “set-up" and that the fluorescent powder test yielded positive results because the police rubbed the powder on his hands. Despite Antonio’s defense, Gasalao filed graft charges against him before the Justice Department on May 18, Monday, after he was presented before Gonzalez. - Sophia Dedace and Carlo Lorenzo, GMANews.TV