GMA STEPS INTO BRIBE CASE

'Alabang Boys' Actors Ordered To Go On Leave

Go on leave, President Gloria Arroyo on Sunday ordered all officials
and prosecutors of the Department of Justice (DOJ) implicated in an
alleged bribery attempt in connection with drug charges against the
"Alabang Boys."

In a statement, President Arroyo said no one should be spared from the
government's campaign against illegal drugs.

"Today, I instructed Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez to require leave
of absence of all officials and prosecutors of the Department of
Justice alleged to have received bribes in exchange for the release of
suspected drug dealers from certain rich and influential families,"
she added.

The President made clear that the government will make those found
guilty pay the price. It was not clear, though, if Gonzalez was
covered by the order. There are at least 20 prosecutors in the Justice
department's task force on illegal drugs.

"The full force of the government's powers to act against those [who]
betray public trust should be applied swiftly and unequivocally, more
so in this case which [involves] illegal drugs-society's cancer-on the
one hand, and supposed pillars of the justice system on the other,"
she said.

The government, Mrs. Arroyo said, should not allow a breach in its
determined war against the menace of illegal drugs and against
narco-politics on a broader level because taking a pause could mean
losing the fight.

"From a public realm, I state this: Our war on drugs should be
vigilant and unrelenting. It should not be compromised. From a
personal realm, I state this: I am a mother who is bothered by an
alleged conspiracy to let loose on our streets pushers of illegal
drugs," she added.

The President said that fighting the menace must continue relentlessly
because "illegal drugs wreck lives, gnaw at the core foundation of a
nation's most precious asset-its young people-and saps the strength of
the nation."

The "Alabang Boys" are three young men from moneyed clans who were
entrapped separately in September 2008 by agents from the Philippine
Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) for alleged drug trafficking. They have
since been detained by the agency.

The case of the boys-Richard Santos Brodett, Jorge Jordana Joseph and
Joseph Ramirez Tecson-hogged headlines after PDEA officials exposed
the alleged P50-million bribe attempt apparently made by the camp of
the "Alabang Boys" on the officials and prosecutors of the Justice
department.

It blew over when Justice Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor admitted
that he did call the drug agency, inquiring why the three suspects
were still being held despite a resolution from the Justice department
dismissing the charges against the boys.

It turned out that Marine Maj. Ferdinand Marcelino was the one who
took Blancaflor's call. During a congressional hearing on the case
later, Marcelino, the head of PDEA's Special Enforcement Services,
revealed his conversation with the Justice undersecretary.

The resolution to dismiss the drug charges, which was written by State
Prosecutor John Resado, thickened the plot when it triggered more
speculation on the alleged bribery attempt. Last week, Resado and the
19 other prosecutors threatened to resign en masse over the
allegations that money changed hands for the release of the "Alabang
Boys." Gonzalez dismissed the threat, telling the prosecutors to stay
put.

The case became more controversial after the Justice department found
that Felisberto Verano Jr., a lawyer for two of the suspects-Brodett
and Tecson-had prepared a draft release order for all the "Alabang
Boys," citing the resolution. Verano had no authority to prepare such
document, only the Justice secretary has. Gonzalez did not sign the
order, which Verano wrote on stationery of the Justice department that
he had pilfered.

Still, the chairman of the Justice department's Task Force on
Anti-Illegal Drugs, also on Sunday said that PDEA holds the key to
closing the bribery scandal rocking the department.

Senior State Prosecutor Phillip Kimpo maintained that Marcelino should
be man enough to name the intermediary who supposedly offered him P3
million in exchange for the freedom of the three drug suspects.

"He [Marcelino] should identify his classmate at the Philippine
Military Academy [PMA] who approached and offered him P3 million
provided that PDEA drop the charges against the 'Alabang Boys,'" Kimpo
said. PMA, the country's premier military school, is the alma mater of
many of the Philippines' top police and military generals.

Kimpo was referring to Marce-lino's testimony before the House
oversight committee on illegal drugs wherein the PDEA official
revealed that his classmate acted as the emissary for the families of
the three drug suspects.

Marcelino identified his classmate during an executive session.
Information divulged in an executive session is only for private
consumption of lawmakers and could not be revealed in public.

"We [the prosecutors] are unjustly accused of having been bribed.
Kawawa naman kami [Pity us]. That is why I'm challenging Maj.
Marcelino to stop protecting his classmate. Para magkaalaman na [So we
will know the truth]," Kimpo said.

He insisted that the prosecutors who studied and drafted the dismissal
resolution were innocent and did their jobs fairly and squarely based
on available facts.

Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuno earlier challenged PDEA "to show
concrete evidence," saying that "if you cannot name names, please stop
making allegations."

Zuno added that they were also willing to face the Ombudsman should it
conduct a separate investigation on the matter.

"Yes, we will welcome it, we have nothing to hide," he
said.