Ongpin seeks dismissal of illegal detention raps

Businessman Roberto Ongpin: BaselessINQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–Businessman Roberto Ongpin has asked the Department of Justice (DOJ) to dismiss charges of serious illegal detention that a former employee had filed against him, turning the tables on his accuser who allegedly stole P5.3 million from his various businesses.

Ongpin, chair and chief executive officer of Alphaland Corp., said charges leveled against him by Eduveges Batalan, his former employee at Philweb Corp., were baseless.

“After confessing that he had systematically stolen millions from me and from companies I hold interests in and, thereafter, agreeing to full restitution of the embezzled funds, he suddenly decided to evade responsibility for his wrongdoing by fabricating the baseless criminal charges that I and my corespondents are now faced with,” said Ongpin in a counter-affidavit filed at the DOJ on Wednesday.

He said Batalan, a “disgruntled” employee, should be the one to undergo a preliminary investigation for allegedly stealing from him.

He said Batalan had “utterly and miserably failed to establish probable cause that I committed any felony in this case.”

“I am innocent and this honorable office should spare me the hardship and anxiety of a public trial,” he said.

Batalan accused the former trade minister and some of his employees of conspiring to detain him at Balesin Island on Feb. 4 to 7 this year. The island is an exclusive resort of Alphaland on Polillo Island in Quezon province.

He said Ongpin had forced him to sign affidavits admitting to creating bank accounts for Ongpin’s stock trading activities and to withdrawing money from these accounts.

Ongpin confirmed meeting Batalan on Feb. 4, but said such encounter was “purely coincidental and not part of some grand scheme to detain, rob or coerce him.” He said Batalan was only on the island to help in the inventory of wines.

He said he learned of Batalan’s alleged theft from his firms when he initiated a lifestyle check on his employees. This was prompted by Ongpin’s discovery that two employees “had systematically stolen millions” from his companies. Separate criminal cases against these employees are pending.

Ongpin found out that Batalan, his employee for 15 years, could not have afforded his properties, including a new house, cars, a sari-sari store and a pharmacy. He confronted the employee during that coincidental meeting.

The businessman said he “sternly warned him that he would soon feel the full force of the law as a consequence of his transgressions.”

Contrary to Batalan’s allegations, Ongpin said he “wanted him off the island at once.”