Robbery raps vs Villar, 3 others ‘baseless, malicious’ — Senate

The Senate branded as "baseless and malicious" the robbery charges filed by an official of the Philcomsat Holdings Corp. (PHC) against Senate President Manuel Villar Jr. and three other senators in connection with the Senate-authorized raid on the firm’s office in Makati City last month.

Senate legal counsel David Yap said the charges filed against Villar and Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Richard Gordon and Manuel Roxas II, retired Gen. Jose Balajadia, head of the Office of the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms (OSA), and several others for the alleged break-in at the PHC offices at Pacific Star building at Buendia and Makati Avenues in Makati have no basis.

Philcomsat director and treasurer Manuel Andal also filed robbery charges at the Makati City prosecutors’ office against Erlinda Ilusorio-Bildner, a PHC stockholder; her sisters Marietta Ilusorio and Kelly Ilusorio-Raab, their employees Raul Baria, Rosanna Baria, Rosario Chapman, and several unidentified Senate employees who allegedly participated in the raid.

Yap said the Senate personnel were serving a lawful order issued by the Senate.

"The arrival of the group of stockholders (Ilusorio-Bildner’s group) of the Philcomsat who are at odds with the complainant for control of Philcomsat was without the knowledge of the Senate arresting team and is being used by certain quarters to further malign the Senate," Yap said.

He said the incident was already clarified during the Supreme Court hearing on the habeas corpus petition filed by Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) Chairman Camilo Sabio, who was at that time detained at the Senate.

The raid at the PHC office was conducted after Gordon issued warrants of arrest against Andal, other PHC directors, and PCGG commissioners led by Chairman Sabio and Ricardo Abcede.

Gordon issued the warrants of arrest after the PHC officials and the PCGG commissioners refused to cooperate in Senate public hearings over allegations that the PCGG allowed the dissipation of assets of government-sequestered corporations like the PHC.

Yap said the filing of charges against the senators is disturbing since the Supreme Court had ordered a moratorium and ceasefire among the concerned parties to stop making any statement about the case.

Villar lamented the filing of criminal charges against them would undermine a gentleman’s agreement forged at the Supreme Court that all parties involved observe a ceasefire on the word war regarding the Philcomsat case.

He said the Senate will not be pressured by any legal suits that may come their way.

"We are not going to be pressured. We are used to these kinds (of pressure). There is an emerging pattern that has become consistent in recent events in the past. I am not surprised," he said.

In case the robbery charges prosper in court and warrants of arrest are issued against the senators, Villar said he will protect his fellow lawmakers from arrest.

"I will follow what is within the legal bounds of the law. If there is no need to be arrested, then we will not allow any arrest," Villar said, adding that his decision would really depend on what kind of charges would be filed against the senators.

Andal said the suspects who barged into his office without his consent took documents that were used to discredit him and the PHC.

He said the raid was part of the conspiracy against the PHC after Gordon, chairman of the Senate committee on government corporations and public enterprises, issued warrants of arrest against the company’s officials.

Andal’s lawyer Ricardo Diaz said Villar and Roxas were included in the charge sheet because they were also signatories to the arrest warrants.

He said Senators Gordon and Enrile allegedly conspired with Ilusorio-Bildner’s group that got possession of the PHC documents stolen from their offices.