PIMENTEL DARES SENATE TO DISPROVE THAT PINEDA COUPLE IS UNTOUCHABLE

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. (PDP-Laban) today dared the Senate Committee on Public Order and Illegal Drugs and Committee on Games and Amusement to summon Pampanga provincial board member Lilia Pineda, wife of suspected gambling lord Rodolfo “Bong” Pineda, to the next public hearing on the jueteng scandal to disprove the impression that the couple is “untouchable”.

Pimentel made the call following a newspaper report that Mrs. Pineda is back in the country after a 45-day visit to the United States where Bong Pineda is believed to be staying to evade the Senate inquiry into the jueteng operations in the country and the alleged gambling payoff to members of the First Family.

He said Mrs. Pineda, according to media accounts, has reported for work and had even attended a session of the provincial board in Sasmuan, a town in Pampanga, last Sept. 5.

Mrs. Pineda was tagged by a witness, former presidential staff officer Michaelangelo Zuce, as the person who allegedly distributed P30,000 to each to the regional directors, provincial election supervisors and other field officials of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) at President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s residence in La Vista, Quezon City, in January, 2004.

Pimentel said the alleged bribery incident has buttressed allegations that jueteng money was used to bankroll the Arroyo election campaign which could explain the government’s lackluster drive against the outlawed numbers game.

He said Mrs. Pineda’s presence here may also mean that Bong Pineda might have also quietly slipped back into the country following the dismissal of the impeachment complaint against the President by the administration-controlled House of Representatives.

Pimentel urged the Senate investigating panels to check whether the suspected gambling lord has returned, and if so, summon him to the jueteng probe.

He lamented that his repeated requests, written and verbal, to the investigating panels to summon the Pineda couple have fallen on deaf ears.

“No action has been taken on my requests. It’s very obvious that there are powerful hands protecting the husband-and-wife team,” the opposition senator said.

In saying that the Pinedas are untouchable, Pimentel cited the August 26 interception by traffic officers of two Ford Expedition cars owned by the couple at a checkpoint at the corner of Roces and Morato Streets in Quezon City in which they found two long and four short firearms.

According to reports, the drivers of the vehicles, Ronaldo Bunalado and Romeo Trinidad, were released after the firearms were found to be licensed. The police allowed the drivers to carry the firearms with them.

Pimentel said the police should have seized the firearms because of the violation of the law and Philippine National Police regulation, that a private citizen may be allowed to have only one short and one long firearm.

He said it is very ugly and damaging to the government authorities that the Pineda couple can flaunt their influence and break the law without any sanctions.

“We cannot escape the conclusion that the hands of the President and other high government officials are behind the protection being enjoyed by this husband-and-wife team,” Pimentel said.

He challenged the Senate to assert its authority and not allow anyone to make a mockery of the law.
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Date: September 10, 2005
Ref: Omeng / (02) 5526731
http://www.nenepimentel.org