Senator Risa Hontiveros Faces Multiple Criminal Charges
Former Negros Oriental Representative Jing Paras filed multiple
criminal charges of kidnapping, obstruction of justice, and wiretapping against
Senator Risa Hontiveros before the Ombudsman on Monday, September 25.
Senator Hontiveros’ wiretapping complaint meanwhile stemmed
from her privilege speech where she showed a photo of a supposed exchange of
text messages between Paras and Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre on hatching
a plan to file cases against the senator.
“Since she challenged us to file a case, pinag-aralan
namin,” Paras said.
In the complaint, Senator Hontiveros is accused of
kidnapping for taking custody of three minors who are supposed witnesses – aged
13, nine, and six – in the Delos Santos slay.
Senator Hontiveros is accused of kidnapping for allegedly
convincing the minors to abandon the home of their parents to an undisclosed
location without informing authorities.
“It is also very clear that she kept custody of these children
from the period of August 19, 2017 to September 3, 2017 and turned over to the
Senate custody only on September 4, 2017 to testify in the Senate
investigation, and then again took control and custody of the minors after said
Senate hearing and placed them in the care of a certain Bishop Pablo David,”
the complaint read.
Senator Hontiveros also knowingly received a journalist’s
photograph that illegally recorded Secretary Aguirre’s text messages with
complainant Paras, which falls under wiretapping, the complaint read.
The complaint cited the Anti-Wiretapping law or Republic Act
4200, which reads “It shall be unlawful for any person, not being authorized by
all the parties to any private communication or spoken word, to tap any wire or
cable, or by using another device or arrangement, to secretly overheard,
intercept or record such communication…”
Senator Hontiveros may also be liable for obstruction of
justice for allegedly refusing to turn over the 13-year-old minor to the Public
Attorney’s Office (PAO) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI)
conducting an investigation.
Despite a letter from PAO requesting the Senate to turn over
the custody, Senator Hontiveros allegedly “refused to turn over the witness to
PAO and NBI in the interest of justice and in carrying the purpose of solving a
murder perpetrated on Kian Delos Santos,” the complaint read.
“Her refusal is an act which constitutes obstruction of
justice, committed by means of preventing witnesses from testifying in any
criminal proceeding.”
“It is pretty obvious that her refusal to turn over the
witnesses to PAO and DOJ was motivated by politics with the sheer purpose of
using the witness as a tool in her propaganda against her political enemies,”
it added.
Meanwhile, Senator Hontiveros said the complaint “is a
desperate attempt to deflect public attention away from their text conversation
inadvertently captured by someone’s camera lens, which caught them red-handed
plotting against me during a Senate hearing inside the Senate.”
“Hindi ito dapat pag-aksayahan ng panahon at pansin ng
mamamayan. We will not be distracted. Tuloy ang ating kampanya para sa
katarungan at para panagutin si Secretary Aguirre at pagbitiwin siya sa kanyang
puwesto,” she added.
The senator earlier sought Secretary Aguirre’s resignation
for alleged “unethical conduct,” citing text messages between him and a certain
Cong Jing.
She alleged that Secretary Aguirre ordered Cong Jing to
expedite the case to be filed against her.
Senator Risa Hontiveros Faces Multiple Criminal Charges
Reviewed by Yen
on
September 29, 2017
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