The Department of Justice (DOJ) junked the request of Pangasinan Gov. Amado Espino Jr., Rep. Jesus Celeste and newspaperman Jaime Aquino to suspend the preliminary investigation of the December 2012 murder of Infanta Mayor Ruperto Martinez, saying a complaint had already been filed against them.
Former President Fidel V. Ramos and his sister, former Sen. Leticia Ramos-Shahani, are on different sides of the political fence as far as the gubernatorial race in their native Pangasinan is concerned.
Lawyers of Gov. Amado Espino Jr. on Thursday said the governor has not received a notice to appear before the Office of the Ombudsman, where a plunder case was filed against him by Bugallon Mayor Rodrigo Orduña.
The Pangasinan police director, on whose watch the province’s governor, Amado Espino Jr., allegedly operated illegal gambling, has been removed from office and replaced.
One of Gov. Amado Espino Jr.’s most bitter political rivals has asked the governor to stop blaming others for the charges that had been filed against him for allegedly protecting illegal gambling in Pangasinan.
Bugallon Mayor Rodrigo Orduña, the man who blew the whistle on the alleged involvement of Pangasinan Gov. Amado Espino Jr. in jueteng operations in the province, reported for work in his town on Monday, this time with security aides monitoring his movements following his exposé last week.
Malacañang on Monday pressed a whistleblower to back up his charges that former First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, former Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno and Philippine National Police chiefs took jueteng payoffs with hard evidence.
Gov. Amado Espino Jr. on Friday denied a local official’s allegation that he is behind the illegal numbers game “jueteng” in the province. Speaking at a news conference here, Espino said the accusation against him was “an old issue that I had answered before.”
A ranking provincial official has urged detractors of Gov. Amado Espino Jr. to look at projects of the provincial government objectively to fully appreciate their socioeconomic impact.
Former Pangasinan representative and now Board Member Ranjit Shahani on Saturday announced that he was withdrawing his support for the gubernatorial bid of his second cousin, Alaminos City Mayor Hernani Braganza, and has endorsed reelectionist Gov. Amado Espino Jr. in next year’s elections.
The Office of the Ombudsman has ordered Pangasinan Gov. Amado Espino Jr. to answer charges that he allowed illegal black sand mining in his province.
