November 28, 2024 | 11:24am
MANILA, Philippines — The House Quad Committee lifted the contempt order issued to dismissed Mexico, Pampanga Mayor Teddy Tumang, on the condition that he provides truthful answers in future hearings.
Before the four-committee panel suspended its probe on the illegal drug trade and offshore scam hubs on Wednesday, November 27, they received a letter from Tumang appealing for reconsideration of the contempt order against him.
Rep. Joseph Stephen “Caraps” Paduano (Abang Lingkod Partylist), who had moved to cite Tumang in contempt, read the letter aloud. In it, Tumang apologized and assured the panel of his full cooperation in future hearings.
He explained that he had no “willful intent to refuse to answer” and appealed for the lifting of his contempt order, which included a penalty of detention, citing “humanitarian and medical reasons.”
Tumang disclosed that he has diabetes and that the House physician said his blood pressure was “not good.”
Considering these reasons as justified, Paduano moved to lift the contempt order but clarified that it would be “conditional.”
“I just want to make it clear that conditional po ang lifting natin. My motion will be conditional that in the next hearing, Mr. Tumang should be present. And at the same time, he will truthfully answer all the questions that will be raised by the members of this committee,” he said.
At the 12th hearing, the committee cited Tumang in contempt for “lying” about his closeness with Chinese nationals linked to alleged illegal land deals. The dismissed mayor repeatedly changed his answers, appearing inconsistent and confused.
House lawmakers can cite a resource person or witness in contempt if they determine that the individual is lying, evasive, disrespectful, refusing to attend hearings without legal excuse or provide relevant documentary evidence.
After answering a few questions about when and where he met Willie Ong and Aedy Tai Yang, the Chinese incorporators of Empire 999 Realty Corp., and how many times they had met, Tumang expressed that he could no longer respond as he was feeling unwell.
He left the hearing and was checked by the House physician.
The warehouse of Ong and Yang’s firm was where 560 kilograms of shabu, worth over P3 billion, were seized.”
According to the National Bureau of Investigation, the two Chinese nationals acquired fraudulent birth certificates in the country to register their firm as a Filipino-owned corporation.
The Quad Comm has filed two bills to address the issue of foreigners illegally acquiring ownership of Philippine land, circumventing the Constitution, which prohibits them from fully owning land or businesses in the country.
These bills are House Bill 11403, or the Civil Forfeiture Act, and House Bill 11117, otherwise known as the Fraudulent Birth Certificate Cancellation Law.
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