DETAINED Sen. Rodante Marcoleta and former representative Mike Defensor could face a subornation of perjury complaint for supposedly “coaching” former Marine Orly Guteza while testifying before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee last year, Sen. Panfilo Lacson said.
Lacson said the sequence of events during the Blue Ribbon hearing showed that Marcoleta had prompted Guteza on what to include in his affidavit regarding his allegations that he delivered cash in suitcases to several personalities, including former speaker Martin Romualdez.
“If you look at the evidence and the sequence of events, it was clear that during the Blue Ribbon hearing, Marcoleta was ‘coaching’ Guteza. So Marcoleta could be one of those facing a complaint for subornation of perjury,” Lacson said in a radio interview on Saturday.
Asked if Marcoleta and Defensor could be held liable after Guteza alleged that the two lawmakers persuaded him to testify in exchange for money and scholarships for his children, Lacson said, “Yes, that’s right, if someone will file a complaint.”
Lacson said Romualdez, who was implicated in Guteza’s original allegations, could be among those who may initiate a complaint.
He said the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Office of the Ombudsman could conduct a preliminary investigation into possible perjury charges involving those behind Guteza’s original testimony, noting that perjury is considered a public offense.
Lacson also reiterated his proposal to slap stiffer penalties at individuals who induce or compel others to commit perjury.
“There should be a lesson for those involved in perjury. We have a law providing penalties against it, but it has yet to be implemented properly,” he said.
Marcoleta and Defensor were detained for plunder charges filed before the Sandiganbayan for allegedly undeclared campaign funds.
In the meantime, Lacson underscored the need to strictly implement Republic Act (RA) 11594, which imposes heavier prison terms and fines on those who commit perjury.
He said the recantation by Guteza and some of the “Maleta boys” had become “a dime a dozen” and indicated such a practice has become a profitable venture.
Lacson said that he and his fellow lawmakers raised the penalty for perjury with the enactment of RA 11594, as a consequence of the extrajudicial killing hearings by the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs in 2021, but “apparently its implementation is wanting.”
Under Article 183 of the Revised Penal Code as amended by RA 11594, false testimony is punishable with prision mayor in its minimum period (six years and one day to eight years) and a fine of P1 million.
If the offender is a public officer or employee, the maximum jail time is increased to 12 years, along with perpetual absolute disqualification from holding any appointive or elective position in government.
Lacson cited Article 8 of the Revised Penal Code, which provides that a conspiracy exists when two or more persons “come to an agreement on the commission of a felony and decide to commit it.”
Under Article 8 of the code which covers conspiracy and proposal to commit a felony, a conspiracy involves two or more persons agreeing to commit a crime, while a proposal exists “when the person who has decided to commit a felony proposes its execution to some other person or persons.”
Article 17, which identifies those considered principals, includes “those who directly force or induce others to commit it.”
