Senator Panfilo Lacson (left) and former Customs chief Nicanor Faeldon (right). INQUIRER FILES
To prevent an “impending miscarriage of justice” to him, the camp of former Bureau of Customs (BOC) chief Nicanor Faeldon has sought the immediate transfer of his complaint against Senator Panfilo Lacson from the Senate committee on ethics to the Senate committee of the whole.
In a 12-page urgent omnibus motion on Monday, Faeldon’s lawyer, Jose Diño Jr., said the ethics committee, chaired by Majority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, was “incapable of even-handedly handling this complaint, let alone rendering a fair and impartial resolution.”
The motion enumerated what it described as “strange, unprocedural and illegal maneuverings” of the complaint allegedly in favor of Lacson.
It cited as example the committee’s decision last week to hold the case in abeyance.
According to the motion, the holding in abeyance of the case to “coerce” Faeldon to appear at the Senate blue ribbon committee’s investigation on the P6.4 billion illegal shabu shipment from China was not provided for in any rule.
“Hence, holding in abeyance is not only unprocedural but also illegal,” the motion asserted.
Faeldon’s camp said it was also “quite disturbing” that Sotto “mimicked almost-verbatim” Lacson’s earlier legal opinions about his legislative immunity while Congress is in session.
“Sad to say and with all due respect, he almost sounded like a legal counsel for the respondent, the legal arguments of whom he merely parroted…” the motion said.
Faeldon’s camp likewise said they want Lacson to state for the record if he had voted for the dismissal of all ethics cases that were previously filed against Sotto in the interest of honesty, transparency and full disclosure.
“By being fully transparent, the complainant and the public at large, who are keenly observing the supposed objectivity and impartiality of this committee, would be assured that the holding in abeyance as well as the threatened outright dismissal of his complaint, are not the products of horse-trading or quid pro quo,” the motion stated.
By invoking an affirmative defense in favor of Lacson, the motion said Sotto has given the word “nag-aabogado” (lawyering), a whole new meaning. /kga