PinoyPundit

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Jail time for Nani? Perez the thought.

Posted on May 24, 2008 - Filed Under Politics, Governance

The alleged crime was committed just two days after Gloria M. Arroyo became president in the wake of Joseph Estrada’s ouster. However, for a special reason that has become an open secret, it has taken the Ombudsman all these years to charge Hernando ‘Nani’ Perez . . . Pres. Arroyos’s very first Justice secretary . . . with extorting $2 million from former Manila congressman Mark Jimenez.  The amount was allegedly part of a $14 ‘walking around money’ that Jimenez obtained from Impsa, an Argentine-owned company that had tasked him to facilitate a Philippine government guarantee for a foreign loan intended for an independent power project . . . a deal that had in fact been junked much earlier by Estrada for being grossly disadvantageous to the government.

Looking back at an extraordinary sequence of events that have unfolded in the past couple of weeks, however, those of us who have been expecting Nani to join Romy Jalosjos in Muntinlupa shortly might as well perish the thought. Consider the following pertinent developments:

• Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez must have deemed that the opportune time to file charges against Perez has finally come because Jimenez . . . who has since withdrawn his lawsuit against Perez in what appears to be part of worming his way back into the good graces of the present administration . . . can no longer be expected to testify even as a witness for the prosecution.

• Instead of charging Perez and his cohorts with plunder inasmuch as $2 million converts to more than the P50 million minimum that qualifies a crime as such, Gutierrez inexplicably opted for extortion and robbery . . . which are both bailable.

• Sandiganbayan presiding justice Edilberto Sandoval has broadly hinted at least twice that he would dismiss the charges if Jimenez . . . who was noticeably absent at Perez’s arraignment last week . . . does not attend subsequent court proceedings.

• Both DOJ sec Raul Gonzalez and Palace chief legal boss Sergio Apostol are in sync in their unsolicited . . . if not improper . . . press statements that the pending charges against their former cabinet colleague are ‘weak’.

• Jesus Santos, who’s the First Gentleman’s attorney and spokesman is now officially lawyering for Nani Perez. And come to think of it, so are Merceditas Gutierrez, Edilberto Sandoval, Sergio Apostol and Raul Gonzalez . . . effectively, albeit unofficially. 

There’s a silver lining in all of these apparently orchestrated efforts to handle Perez with kid gloves, however, and I have a feeling that most opposition figures have already realized that Demavera has actually done them a great big favour by omitting a plunder case despite what has been described as a traceable paper trail on the alleged $2 million bribe.

Sometime in the foreseeable future when the weather right . . . as in ‘weather-weather lang’ . . . Perez will be charged with plunder, be barred from posting bail and woefully unable to invoke double jeopardy.

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