Habitually every now and then, they re-appear in the national discourse as complainants in cases they maliciously conjure up against the Duterte opposition. Let us review their records because very soon they will reprise those roles again.
Jacinto “Jing” Paras and Michael “Mike” Defensor will be the signatories to the impeachment complaint that will be filed against Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the House. The drama has already been choreographed. The endorsers will be representatives Kiko Barzaga of Cavite and Richelle Singson Michael of the Ako Ilocano Ako party list.
Notice the Singson involvement as key: Richelle is the daughter of the 83-year old Chavit. There are two other Singsons in the House: Ilocos Sur 1st district’s Ronald Singson (Chavit’s son) and the 2nd district’s Kristine Singson Meehan, daughter of Candon City mayor Eric Singson, Chavit’s cousin. With all his sour grapes, Chavit will make full use of his machinery that journalism professor Danilo Arao calls as the super-obese political dynasty of the Philippines.
Chavit’s hand behind the complaint will probably be a factor that will spell its doom. He had just called for people power against Marcos Jr. and was rebuffed – the proper word is ignored – by the Filipino public. That is worse than being booed.
But it is the presence of Paras and Defensor that makes this complaint farcical. Farce has always been their cottage industry.
Paras was once Negros Oriental representative, and played a succession of roles for Rodrigo Duterte (USec of Labor and Employment, Presidential Adviser for Political Affairs, among others). But his greatest role for Duterte was to file numerous complaints against government officials perceived as “destabilizing” the Duterte administration.
With Malacañang, he filed a complaint against Overall Deputy Ombudsman Melchor Arthur Carandang for what they alleged as unlawful disclosure of Duterte’s bank transactions that amounted to billions. Paras also tagged Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales as the mastermind behind maneuvers against president Duterte. Asked how he knew about it, Paras said: “Because I am intelligent.”
Let’s look at that claim of intelligence. In November 2017, Paras and his gang of attack dogs (Manuelito Luna, Glenn Chong, Nasser Marohomsalic) filed a case of inciting to sedition and rebellion against then senator Antonio Trillanes. Paras et al said Trillanes “encouraged the military to kill the president.” The case never prospered.
But it was truly proven that Paras was a tool of Duterte in repressing political opposition. In September 2017, there was a senate hearing on the police murder of Kian de los Santos. Justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre was being grilled. An anonymous source took a photo of Aguirre and inadvertently captured the short messages on Aguirre’s phone.
Aguirre was in a message conversation with a “Cong Jing.”
Cong Jing: Naturu-an na ni Hontiveros ang testigo (Hontiveros has coached the witness).
Aguirre: Yon nga sinasabi ko dito. Kaya nga expedite natin cases nyo against her (That’s what I’m saying here. That’s why we must expedite your cases against her).
Both Aguirre and Paras were caught in flagrante delicto – the cases they filed against the Duterte opposition were all dictated by Rodrigo Duterte. Aguirre would later file a case of wiretapping against Sen. Risa Hontiveros – for getting caught with his and Paras’s sinister agenda against Hontiveros.
Mike Defensor is of a similar mold, perhaps even worse than Paras. He was Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s secretary of Environment and Natural Resources (2004-2006). From a government regulator of mining, he became a corporate operator of mining interests after he left office.
He became CEO of Pax Libera Mining, chair of NiHAO Mineral Resources Inc., chair of Geograce Resources Philippines. Those pose conflicts of interests for communities affected by mining.
In 2005, he reinstated the Mineral Production Sharing Agreement of the Mindoro Nickel Project of Intex Resources that had been previously canceled by then DENR secretary Heherson Alvarez in July 2001 following public rage by local governments affected and by civil society. The impression being: what does Defensor transact behind our backs?
What do we call operators like Paras and Defensor whose actions are done at the expense of ethics? Readers you supply the word. That will be the greatest infirmity of their impeachment complaint, more than having no Mary Grace Piattos as evidence.
The views in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of VERA Files.
