Zubiri: Unseen hands may manipulate Senate hearings

(UPDATE) SENATE President Juan Miguel Zubiri cautioned senators against unseen hands who will try to manipulate Senate committee hearings for political reasons.

Zubiri aired the warning on Monday during the motu proprio hearing of the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs led by Sen. Ronald de la Rosa on the reported leaked document from the Presidential Drugs Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

Former PDEA agent Jonathan Morales claimed that confidential documents showed that then-senator and now-President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and actress Maricel Soriano were being monitored for alleged drug use.

A mugshot of Jonathan Morales who was charged by the PDEA of giving false testimony. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

The President and Soriano denied Morales’ claim.

Morales’ credibility was challenged during the inquiry after he admitted to planting evidence, which resulted in his dismissal.

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Former PDEA director general Arturo Cacdac testified that Morales had admitted to falsifying his testimony and planting evidence during an operation against alleged Filipino Chinese drug suspects.

Morales did not refute Cacdac’s statement.

PDEA Legal and Prosecution Service acting director Francis del Valle also testified that the “name Bongbong Marcos alias Bonget” does not appear in the national drug information system or interagency drug information database and that Marcos “has never been included in the drug war list.”

“While we respect the committees’ right to perform oversight functions in aid of legislation, I caution our colleagues to be very careful not to use hearings in aid of political persecution. We will not allow the Senate to be used for politics,” Zubiri said.

He said that “very serious accusations” have been made at the inquiry.

“Whether they have merit or not is a whole other matter. While certain claims were made, documentary evidence is yet to be presented. There were no pictures, no corroborating testimonies,” he said.

“In other words, this was solely based on the testimony of one person based on what appears to be hearsay evidence. Mr. Morales cites a document he claims to have seen by virtue of his former position, although he did not personally witness any wrongdoing,” he said.

The drug test of the President was also being brought up, “even though it did not appear to be germane to the subject of the motu proprio investigation done last hearing,” Zubiri said.

Sen. Jinggoy Estrada questioned the integrity of Morales, who linked President Marcos to cocaine use. “One of the lessons I learned in law school is the legal maxim that he who alleges has the burden to prove this.”

Morales has presented no other evidence to back his claim, Estrada said.

The Civil Service Commission (CSC) affirmed the PDEA’s decision to dismiss Morales.

According to the CSC decision, Morales executed an affidavit stating that he and fellow PDEA agents had conducted an entrapment operation on May 3, 2010, resulting in the arrest of two suspects on drug charges.

But after the suspects’ lawyers presented a witness in their defense, “Morales recanted his testimony and stated that there is no lawful entrapment and that they fabricated the evidence,” the CSC said.

DRUG HEARING Former Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency chief Dionisio Santiago, Eric ‘Pikoy’ Santiago, former PDEA agent Jonathan Morales and Romeo Enriquez attend the public hearing by the Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs on Monday, May 13, 2024. PHOTOS BY RENE H. DILAN

Following his recantation, the PDEA charged Morales in 2013 with dishonesty, grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service and eventually dismissed him.

Morales appealed the CSC decision, but the commission found the appeal “unmeritorious.”

Zubiri said that “while legislative inquiries are very liberal in terms of adhering to rules of evidence, it is our opinion that hearings should aim to ferret out the truth using evidence and facts.”

“Otherwise, the faith of people in inquiries-in-aid of legislation may be diminished, especially when it causes reputational damage to other parties. There have been instances where statements were made in legislative inquiries, only to be recanted before the courts later on. We do not want a repeat of that,” he said.

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