Transcript of the Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago’s interview

On COMELEC Chair Benjamin Abalos’s resignation

Chairman Abalos resigned because of public clamor and out of a sense of delicadeza. I genuinely sympathize with him because it is Christian to be compassionate with someone who is overtaken by tragedy… I feel fully for him and his family, because as a Christian, I cannot possibly find enjoyment in the calamities of other people.

The result is that Congress will no longer have jurisdiction to impeach him. But, even his resignation will not stop the filing of criminal charges against him in the Ombudsman, possibly for the violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. If that is the case, then I don’t want to prejudge.

If the Ombudsman decides in the affirmative, that there is prima facie evidence, then they can elevate the case to the Sandiganbayan for trial. The mere fact that the accused is no longer in government, or his retirement or resignation, will not stop the proceedings in the Ombudsman and the Sandiganbayan.

-o0o-