The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has filed qualified human trafficking complaints before the Department of Justice (DOJ) against Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste, former Negros Oriental Rep. Jacinto ‘Jing’ Paras, and five others following its investigation into the alleged ‘honey trap’ plot targeting Executive Secretary Ralph Recto.
‘Kumpleto, nandirito na yung mga ebidensya, all the attachments, and we are filing a violation of the anti-human trafficking law. So qualified human trafficking ang ipa-file natin to seven individuals,’ NBI Director Melvin Matibag said in an ambush interview on Friday.
(It’s complete; the evidence is here, all the attachments, and we are filing a violation of the anti-human trafficking law. So, qualified human trafficking is what we are going to file against seven individuals.)
Qualified human trafficking is nonbailable.
Aside from Leviste and Paras, the NBI also filed the same charges against talent manager Alias Ken and the four lawyers from the Rondain and Mendiola Law Firm who are supposedly tasked to create fabricated statements against Recto.
The four lawyers are Ruy Rondain, Orlando Mendiola, Patrick Criaga, and Josemilio Manuel Apostol.
The NBI’s National Capital Region, led by regional director Emeterio Dongallo Jr., arrived at the DOJ headquarters in Ermita, Manila, this Friday afternoon to file the charges.
Dongallo told the INQUIRER in a Viber message that the charges were officially lodged around 3 p.m.
Matibag also said the bureau is considering filing an ethics complaint against Leviste at the House of Representatives and a disbarment case against the four lawyers next week.
Reacting to the filed complaints, Leviste, in a Facebook post on Friday, mocked the NBI’s name, saying its ‘I’ stands for ‘Imbento’ (invention).
‘Nag-iimbento ng kalokohan gamit ang buwis habang lubog ang bayan. Nakakaawa ang nangyayari sa ating bansa,’ Leviste said.
(They’re inventing nonsense using taxes while the country is drenched in floods. What’s happening in our country is pathetic.)
Paras, meanwhile, said in a phone interview with the INQUIRER that he is ready to face the complaints since these were only ‘fabricated.’
Mendiola, one of the four lawyers, said he may give a comment ‘after I have seen the criminal complaint.’
Rondain, however, has yet to respond to the query.
The investigation into the supposed ‘honey trap’ operation began following the arrest of Alias Ken last July 28 over a human trafficking case.
Ken earlier said he met Paras and the lawyers in a restaurant in July to supposedly plan the ‘character assassination’ scheme in which four of his female artists would issue fabricated statements claiming that Recto forced them to use illegal drugs and have sex with him.
The lawyers, who allegedly introduced themselves as Leviste’s representatives, were tasked with crafting the ‘script,’ or fabricated statements targeting Recto, the talent manager said.
Ken also claimed that Leviste was the financier of the supposed modus
All of the implicated individuals have since denied the allegations