DOLE exec summoned over phone ‘theft’

MANILA, Philippines — A prosecutor from Quezon City has issued a subpoena to Labor Undersecretary Jacinto Paras in connection with the theft charges filed by Akbayan party-list Rep. Tom Villarin against the labor official who allegedly stole his cell phone at the House of Representatives. 

In a single-page order, senior assistant city prosecutor Rodrigo del Rosario directed both parties to be at Room 502 of the Department of Justice building – in the Justice Cecilia Muñoz-Palma Hall, beside Quezon City Hall – at 9 a.m. on July 2 and 16. 

“No motion to dismiss will be entertained,” he warned, as he ordered the face-off.  

Villarin had asked Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez to ban Paras from the Batasan complex in Quezon City “until full redress of my grievances has been settled.” Paras is a former congressman from Negros Oriental.

Villarin noted that Paras remained unrepentant in spite of the closed circuit television (CCTV) camera footage showing that he allegedly took Villarin’s phone.

In a privilege speech, Villarin said he could have easily forgiven Paras if only he extended an apology, but was surprised to learn that he was “not a decent man.” 

“I am a forgiving person, Mr. Speaker, if he could have just approached me in contrition from the day he got my phone until yesterday when it came out in the media,” Villarin said. “But sad to say, Mr. Paras is not a decent man.” 

“While he did not deny taking away my phone and telling us that he might have accidentally taken it with him, a decent person’s instinct would be to personally talk to me and say how sorry he was,” he added, noting that the incident was fully captured on CCTV. 

The incident, which prompted Villarin to file charges against Paras, likewise bolstered his suspicions that it was more of a political act against a member of the opposition. 

“With his admission that this is political, it closes the loop why indeed an indecent man has the nerve to steal my cell phone. It confirms my fears about the reason why my privacy is being violated because this indecent person can gain favors with the powers-that-be.”  

“We should not let things like this pass,” he told a news conference, adding Paras acted as if he were a member of the so-called salisi gang when he put his two hand phones on top of his cellular phone on the table. 

Paras, apparently with obvious intent, took Villarin’s phone together with his own phones.