Lawyer questions missing cash, pieces of jewelry in Bilibid raid
Atty. Ferdinand Topacio. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
Where are the cash, expensive watches, pieces of jewelry seized in a 2014 raid at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) that was led by former Justice Secretary and now Senator Leila De Lima?
Atty. Ferdinand Topacio, counsel for Noel Martinez, German Agojo, Jojo Baligad, Joel Capones, Jerry Pepino and Herbert Colanggo said during the raid led by De Lima, they took millions in cash, expensive watches and pieces of jewelry from his clients.
READ: Around P300M from De Lima’s 2014 Bilibid raid missing—Aguirre
“In spite of demands both written and verbal for the DOJ (Department of Justice) to return these items to the relatives of the inmates, we were roundly ignored by her,” Topacio said.
From Colanggo alone, during the December 2014 raid, authorities found three vaults inside his cell. Seized items included eight watches—five Rolex watches, one Philip Stein and one Cartier watch and various pieces of jewelry.
Authorities also discovered one Prada wallet with P5,000, Hermes with P10,000 and Louis Vuitton with P62,000 as well as cash in foreign currencies—US$600 and 23,000 Hong Kong dollars.
Topacio also denied the claims of De Lima that his clients threatened her after they were moved from the NBP to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and eventually to the Building 14.
“Sen. De Lima was never threatened by my clients when they were transferred to the NBI. On the contrary, we took the legal route by going to the Court of Appeals when my clients were being held incommunicado without the benefit of counsel. We filed Petitions for Writs of Amparo, and a writ was in fact issued in January 2015,” Topacio said.
He also denied De Lima’s allegations that his clients were tortured to testify against De Lima.
“My clients were not coerced, threatened, intimidated, tortured or given promises to testify. They did so voluntarily and of their own volition,” Topacio said.
He dared De Lima and her staff to interview his clients or come to Camp Aguinaldo and stay 24/7 to see the activities of his clients. RAM
