Ongpin wants all evidence in illegal detention case disclosed

Businessman Roberto Ongpin: Right to examine all documents. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–The lawyers of businessman Roberto Ongpin have asked the Department of Justice to compel the National Bureau of Investigation to disclose all the evidence it used to charge Ongpin with serious illegal detention.

Lawyers Alexander Poblador and Justin Christopher Mendoza denounced the NBI Intelligence Service-Technical Intelligence Division for not disclosing the text messages allegedly received and sent by complainant Eduveges Batalan as well as the flight plans and records of the aircraft used in taking Batalan and the respondents to and from the Balesin island resort in Polillo, Quezon.

The NBI said the electronic logs and text messages of Batalan as well as his Facebook posts were personal and may not be disclosed without his consent.

Ongpin’s lawyers, however, said that in a preliminary investigation, the respondent had the right to be furnished with and to examine all documents in the complaint against him without exemption.

“This right is not subject to the consent of the purported owner of the document or evidence submitted in support of the complaint. The mere use of a document as evidence against a respondent in a preliminary investigation automatically entitles him to examine it,” the lawyers said in a reply they filed on June 30 with the DOJ panel headed by senior assistant state prosecutor Erwin Dayog.

Batalan also waived his right to privacy when he disclosed his text messages and Facebook posts and logs to the NBI investigators, the lawyers added.

As to the claim of of the NBI that the flight plans and aircraft records were not relevant and material to the case, Ongpin’s lawyers said the rules of court allows the respondent to examine all supporting documents.

“[I]f the missing flight plans and records really ’lacked evidence and materiality,’ why did the NBI even bother to mark and mention them in its investigation report?” the lawyers asked.

They also declined an offer by the NBI to allow them to examine the items of evidence within the NBI premises, saying the parties’ conflicting positions on the production of the documents were resolved by the DOJ panel.

Batalan, a former employee of gaming technology provider PhilWeb Corp., whose board Ongpin chairs, claimed the businessman and 11 other people had allegedly detained him in Balesin, accusing him of stealing funds from the company.

In his complaint filed with the NBI, Batalan said he was flown to the resort last Feb. 4, supposedly to conduct an inventory in Ongpin’s office at the clubhouse there.

Once on the island, Batalan said Ongpin confronted him regarding the missing funds, accusing him of having a luxurious lifestyle, and threatened to leave him on the island unless he confessed to his alleged misdeeds.

While under detention, Batalan said he was psychologically tortured and coerced to sign prepared affidavits stating, among other things, that he withdrew P3 million from bank accounts he personally created for Ongpin’s stock market trading activities.

Fearing for his life and the safety of his family, Batalan said he signed the affidavits.

The NBI acted as a co-complainant in the case, which was filed at the DOJ last week. Among those charged were security personnel and other employees of Ongpin.