MIDNIGHT' SHEDS LIGHT ON 'BRIBERY'

MANILA, Philippines-Johnny Midnight, the radio announcer who became
famous in the '70s and the '80s for promoting "toning" (water therapy)
and pyramid healing, said Wednesday there was no way he would be
involved in any bribery to have his son released from the custody of
the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.

"No way, no chance," Midnight said, putting his hands on his
face.

His son Jorge Jordana Joseph was one of the three young men the PDEA
arrested on Sept. 20 in buy-bust operations for possession of some 60
tablets of Ecstasy, packs of marijuana and several sachets of cocaine.

Joseph, 22, Richard Santos Brodett, 25, and Joseph Ramirez Tecson, 23,
were arrested four hours apart in Araneta Center in Quezon City and in
Ayala Alabang, Muntinlupa City.

Master chef

Midnight, now a general manager and master chef at Hotel Vino in Pasay
City, admitted he offered something to the PDEA-not money but his
services as a media practitioner.

"When my son was arrested, I went to see [Major Ferdinand] Marcelino
in his office in the PDEA at 3 in the morning. We were there. I
offered to help in the campaign against illegal drugs through my
program. I have a two-hour program on RJ/TV. That was the only thing I
offered. But money, No!!" he said.

Marcelino, head of PDEA's Special Enforcement Service, led the
operations that resulted in the arrest of the so-called "Alabang Boys."

Marcelino earlier told the Philippine Daily Inquirer about three
attempts to bribe him and his men, beginning on the very day the
arrests were made.

Aside from P50M

He said the offer to "buy" him and his men came from an emissary
related to Tecson.

The first offer was P3 million and the final offer rose to P20
million, according to the Special Enforcement Service chief.

The offers were different from the P50 million that was allegedly paid
in exchange for a Department of Justice resolution dismissing the
charges against Joseph, Brodett and Tecson, according to the PDEA.

Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuno has denied that he and the
prosecutors who investigated and reviewed the case had been bribed
into recommending the dismissal of charges.

The suspects are still under PDEA custody because resolutions on drug
cases are automatically reviewed.

Suspects were victims

Midnight said he asked Marcelino why the kids had been fired at. "Was
there a shoot-to-kill order?" he said.

Midnight lamented that in the fight against illegal drugs, the three
young men were the victims. "Why blame the children? Why are they
being targeted? Who is financing the drug trade?" he said.

Midnight was in the middle of opening up when his lawyer arrived and
admonished him for talking about his son's case, especially the
alleged bribe attempt.

The lawyer gave his name but made it clear that he was not allowing it
to be printed in the Inquirer. At the height of the election campaign
in 2004, he filed a disqualification case against actor Fernando Poe
Jr. who ran for president.

"The situation is getting complicated and as his lawyer I am advising
him to stop this interview right now. Mr. Johnny Midnight is not the
one involved in this issue and even if his son is included in the
issue, it would be best for him not to talk at this point," the lawyer
said.

He said the media were not the proper forum to discuss the
case.

Midnight was apologetic, saying that he understood the job of a
reporter being a media practitioner himself. He nevertheless followed
the advice of his lawyer.

Alba's restaurant

Instead of the alleged bribery, Midnight talked about something else,
how a media icon like him ended up as a chef.

"It was right after martial law was declared that I began to cook. But
I had to start at the bottom, as a kitchen helper, a waiter, then
later a manager under the wing of Don Anastacio de Alba of the famous
Alba's restaurant," he said.

While he talked about something else, Midnight could not hide the fact
that he was worried about his son, and would inject lines referring to
his son's predicament.

At one point, he said he found it doubly hard to sleep, since
September, thinking about how his son Jorge was coping inside the
detention cell of the PDEA in Quezon City.

But his lawyer was quick to alert Midnight that he was beginning to
talk about his son's case again.

Copy of resolution

To keep Midnight away from the topic about his son's case, the lawyer
thought of something else. The lawyer asked whether anyone in media
had actually read the DoJ resolution which was the subject of a
P50-million bribe.

"I have a copy!" Midnight volunteered. He left the dining area of
Hotel Vino to give his copy of the DoJ resolution to this reporter.

While Midnight was getting the resolution from his car, the lawyer
said the resolution would show that there was no bribery attempt.

The lawyer pointed out that almost all of the officers and men of the
PDEA who were involved in the arrest of the three suspects were all
from the military.

"PDEA's people think they are still in Mindanao, fighting the Abu
Sayyaf. They don't know the procedure," he said.

Warrantless arrests, searches

The resolution dismissed the case because of the illegal warrantless
arrests and warrantless searches on the vehicles of the three suspects.

It was signed by State Prosecutor John Resado, with the recommending
approval of Senior State Prosecutor Philip I. Kimpo. Zuno approved the
resolution.

The resolution also noted the excessive use of force against the
respondents, pointing to several grave improprieties of the PDEA
agents such as the mauling of Brodette while his hand were tied and
the shooting of the right front tire of a Honda Accord. It also
pointed to seven other bullet holes.

Without counsel

In their sworn statements, the respondents complained to the DoJ that
one of the PDEA agents said that if the operation happened outside the
posh subdivision in Alabang, they would not be alive.

"Kung sa labas ito nangyari at walang witness, tigok na sila (If it
happened outside [the subdivision], and there were no witnesses, they
would have been dead)," the PDEA agent was quoted as saying.

The resolution particularly noted that Joseph was "under the control
of the PDEA agents without the presence of any counsel when
information against respondent Tecson was extracted from him."

The DoJ resolution, dated Dec. 2, 2008, instructed the PDEA to
immediately release Brodett, Joseph and Tecson.

The resolution has yet to be reviewed by the justice
secretary.

Marcelino has told the Inquirer that the PDEA received an assurance
from Resado that the case was already for filing at a local court.

Low morale

"But he [Resado] said he could not handle Zuno," Marcelino
said.

The PDEA was later told that the case lacked probable
cause.

"My men now are suffering from low morale. We did our job, but they
want the case dismissed," Marcelino said.