Prosecutor, lawyer nabbed for bribery in Zamboanga

A Zamboanga city prosecutor and a lawyer have been arrested in an entrapment operation for alleged bribery and extortion, a statement from the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) said Friday.

Zamboanga city deputy prosecutor Roselyn Murillo Mamon and Attorney Pherham Surian Saiddi were arrested as they were bribing a witness with P200,000 to skip the trial of a notorious drug pusher there.

Witness PO3 Flavio Enriquez Jr. of the Region 9 Intelligence Division earlier tipped PAOCC and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents on the bribery activities of Mamon and Saiddi.

Using an undercover video recording of a previous bribery attempt, Enriquez said the city prosecutor and lawyer were coercing him to stop appearing as witness against the suspects PO2 Pon Mohammad Mansul and Margani Samla alias "Bin Laden," one of Zamboanga's most wanted criminal.

The two were accused of possession of fire arms and illegal drugs. Samla was earlier arrested in a buy-bust operation with a  cohort Dadoh Masul. PO3 Mansul is still at large.

The PAOCC had earlier received information on the alleged malfeasance and other corrupt practices of the prosecutor and lawyer in handling high-profile cases of organized and moneyed criminals.

After the arrest led by PAOCC and NBI team, the two lawyers were held at the NBI regional office in Zamboanga city for investigation.

They will be facing charges of violating Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, as well as RA 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials. — Marc Jayson Cayabyab/KBK, GMA News