Ni NOEL ABUEL
Pinasinungalian ni dating Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. ang akusasyon ng dating ahente ng Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) na iniutos nito ang pagpigil sa drug surveillance operations kay dati at ngayo’y Pangulong Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. at sa aktres na si Maricel Soriano.
Sa ikaapat na pagdinig ng Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs, na pinamunuan ni Senador Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, nanindigan si Ochoa na wala itong kinalaman sa pahayag ng dating PDEA agent na si Jonathan Morales na nakialam ito sa drug operation kina Marcos at Soriano noong 2012.
“I do not personally know Mr. (Jonathan) Morales and don’t recall of any operation that we have met or even talked so I completely deny that I have made those instructions as alleged,” sa pahayag ni Ochoa.
Dinagdag pa nito na hindi nito kilala si dating PDEA deputy director general Carlos Gadapan, na sinasabing nag-utos kay Morales na itigil ang drug investigation.
Magugunitang sa unang pagdinig ng komite, iginiit ni Morales na hindi natuloy ang inaasahang operasyon laban kina Marcos at Soriano noong 2012 dahil pinigilan umano ito ni Gadapan.
Sinabi ni Morales na sinabihan ito ni Gadapan na huwag magsagawa ng operasyon dahil utos ito ni Ochoa.
Sinabi rin ng dating executive secretary sa komite na hindi nito maalala na inimbitahan si Morales ng Law Enforcement Integrated Office (LESIO) ng Malacañang para sa briefing hinggil sa operasyon ng PDEA, kabilang ang laban kina Marcos at Soriano.
“I cannot recall exactly if that indeed took place, but I only learned now when this hearing was conducted and I somehow, but very, very vaguely, if there was an incident that happened, but I’m not so sure — because I was never informed of such meeting and even after that meeting there was no report submitted to me in regard to what transpired in that meeting,” paliwanag ni Ochoa.
Samantala, kapwa napatawan ng contempt si Morales at dating Napolcom employee na si Eric “Pikoy” Santiago.
Mismong si Dela Rosa ang naghain ng contempt laban kay Santiago dahil sa pagsisinungaling nito sa komite hinggil sa sinasabing PDEA leaks
“Since we first heard about the PDEA leaks, your committee has tried to stay focused on its goal, that is to find out why there are allegedly confidential documents that were smuggled from the PDEA’s case file folders and how to prevent it from happening again by drafting laws. No more, no less,” ani Dela Rosa
Habang si Morales ang sumunod na na-contempt matapos isulong ni Senador Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada, vice chair ng komite, dahil sa umano’y patuloy nitong pagsisinungaling sa pagdinig.
“The truth has come out. All the resource persons here are saying that you are a liar and it’s not just me. I reiterate my previous statement during the last two hearings that the statement given by this resource person against the agency like PDEA and its current leadership are evidently perjurious, defamatory and outright false,” sabi ni Estrada.
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