House ban on ex-solon sought

Labor Undersecretary Jacinto “Jing” Paras

An opposition lawmaker has asked the House of Representatives to ban Labor Undersecretary Jacinto Paras from the legislative premises for allegedly swiping his cellular phone two months earlier.

Paras, a former Negros Oriental representative and a member of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption, has denied Akbayan Rep. Tomasito Villarin’s accusations.

“I seek your support to have Undersecretary Paras be censured by the House and be banned from entering our premises until full redress of my grievances have been settled,” Villarin said in a privilege speech on Wednesday evening.

He urged fellow lawmakers to “express our disdain to a very indecent act.”

Theft complaint

On Monday, Villarin filed a theft complaint against Paras in the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office in connection with the March 20 incident.

In his complaint, Villarin said Paras took his iPhone X worth P74,000 as they were engaged in “small talk” following a hearing at De Venecia Hall on the first floor of the South Wing Annex building.

Paras was a resource person in the labor committee’s inquiry into the probationary period for private school personnel and the conditions for hiring students for part-time work.

The next day, the complaint and investigation unit of the Legislative and Security Bureau (LSB) informed Villarin that his phone was found on top of a desk used by Paras inside Zulueta Hall on the second floor of the building.

CCTV footage

Backing his statements with the closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage from the LSB, Villarin said Paras placed his own phone and power bank on top of his iPhone.

Paras then took the two phones, left De Venecia Hall and then proceeded to Zulueta Hall, Villarin said.

“The CCTV footage showed he has an intention to take my phone for whatever purpose. For more than an hour, he had my phone,” Villarin told the Inquirer.

He said his staff had been calling his phone more than 10 times and also tried to reach Paras but their calls were unanswered, he said.

It took him two months to file the case because he had to verify the  details of the theft, he said.

Villarin also believed Paras had intended to look at his cell phone’s contents.

Security features

“But he would not be able to open it because it has security features. It has facial recognition and it turns off every 30 seconds, that’s why he was not able to open it,” he said.

The phone theft was a form of bullying and intimidation of an opposition member, Villarin said.

“We have to take a look at this kind of action because we are in the opposition, and with this atmosphere, with this climate of fear, they think we are being intimidated. This is a blatant form of intimidation inside the Congress  . . . If he were dismissive about this, I am not,” he added.

In response, Paras said in separate statements on Tuesday and Wednesday that he was considering filing a damage suit against Villarin “for destroying my good name.”

He denied he stole Villarin’s phone and accused the Akbayan representative of using squid tactics “because his complaint is very weak and has no leg to stand on.”

‘Political color’

Paras said Villarin’s accusation against him was not only “incredible,” but also “malicious and has political color.”

“Who is he to call for disallowing me from entering the House? I’ve been a three-termer congressman and I earned the good image of being decent and hardworking,” he said.

Villarin is a party mate of Sen. Risa Hontiveros, whom Paras had accused of kidnapping for taking minors to the Kian delos Santos murder into her protective custody.

Paras also figured in a controversial exchange of text messages with then Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II during a Senate hearing last October.

Aguirre messaged Paras to speed up a case against Hontiveros, which she had exposed with pictures of the text messages.

Paras and Aguirre called Hontiveros’ move a violation of privacy and wiretapping laws. — REPORTS FROM VINCE F. NONATO, JODEE A. AGONCILLO AND JOVIC YEE