Leviste, 6 others charged with human trafficking over alleged plot vs. Recto

MANILA, Philippines — The National Bureau of Investigation has filed a complaint for qualified human trafficking against Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste, former Negros Oriental Rep. Jacinto “Jing” Paras and five others over an alleged plot to offer women and their sexual services to Executive Secretary Ralph Recto in order to set him up for “character assassination.” This was according to NBI Director Melvin Matibag, who said the bureau had finished its probe of the so-called “honey trap’’ targeting the Malacañang official. “It’s complete, the evidence is here, all the attachments … We are filing qualified (human) trafficking against seven individuals,” Matibag said in an interview with reporters on Friday. Qualified human trafficking is a nonbailable offense. READ: Paras claims Recto indeed ordered girls from ‘pimp’ talent manager Aside from Leviste and Paras, the respondents include a talent manager given the alias “Ken’’ and the four lawyers from the Rondain & Mendiola Law Firm, who according to the NBI, were supposedly tasked to fabricate statements against Recto using the women. The NBI identified the four lawyers as Ruy Rondain, Orlando Mendiola, Patrick Criaga and Josemilio Manuel Apostol. The complaint was filed at the DOJ around 3 p.m. Friday by Emeterio Dongallo Jr., the NBI director for the National Capital Region (NCR). READ: NBI considers ethics complaint vs. Leviste after trafficking raps Matibag said the bureau is also considering filing an ethics complaint against Leviste at the House of Representatives and a disbarment case against the four lawyers next week. In a Facebook post on Friday reacting to the filing, Leviste mocked the NBI, saying the “I” in the bureau’s initial stands for “imbento” (invention). “They invent such nonsense using public funds while the country is drenched in floods,” said the congressman, a political nemesis of Recto. Both with roots in the local politics of Batangas province, the two had engaged in a bitter word war, swapping allegations of corruption and attempted bribery, before the honey trap controversy broke out. Sought for comment, Paras said he is ready to face the charges, also dismissing them as “fabricated.” Mendiola, one of the four lawyers, declined to comment before seeing a copy of the complaint. There was no reply from Rondain as of press time when the INQUIRER contacted him for an interview. The NBI investigation began on July 28 with the arrest of Ken, who in a sworn statement revealed the alleged plot against Recto and implicated Leviste, Paras and the lawyers. In an earlier interview with the Inquirer, Ken said he met with Paras and the lawyers in a restaurant that month about a plan to set Recto up by offering him four of the “female artists’’ being handled by the talent manager. The plot allegedly involved claiming that Recto forced them to take drugs and have sex with him. The lawyers, who Ken said introduced themselves as Leviste’s representatives, were tasked with crafting the “script.” Ken also said the Batangas congressman served as the scheme’s financier. —WITH A REPORT FROM GABRIEL LALU