Porac, Pampanga Mayor Jing Capil ordered arrested for graft

MANILA, Philippines – Porac, Pampanga Mayor Jaime “Jing” Capil has been ordered arrested by a court for a criminal graft case in connection with the raided Lucky South 99 compound in his town.

The warrant was issued by the Pasig City Regional Trial Court on Friday, November 28. As of posting Monday, December 1, the Philippine National Police (PNP) was still locating Capil to serve the warrant.

The bail is set at P90,000 for seven counts of graft.

“He has sent surrender feelers to the PNP. We will know within this week kung magsu-surrender siya. Kung hindi, uumpisahan na namin iyong intensive manhunt para sa kaniya,” Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said on Monday. (We will know within this week if he will surrender. If not, we will start the intensive manhunt against him.)

Rappler has sent Capil messages to ask for his statement. We will update this story once we receive his response.

On Facebook, the Porac mayor’s office posted on November 29: “There is no detailed statement yet from the Mayor. The Mayor and his Legal Team are still in the process of verifying the reported warrant allegedly issued by the Honorable Regional Trial Court of Pasig City, as no official Notice or copy of the Information has been formally furnished to Mayor Capil as of this time.”

“Please be assured that Mayor Jing Capil will submit himself to the requirements of the law, as long as due process is duly accorded to him,” read the post.

Capil has been charged with violating Sections 3(e) and 3(j) of the anti-graft law, which prohibit granting government permits to entities not qualified to it, and causing undue injury to the government. Capil is accused of granting permits to the Lucky South 99 POGO (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator) despite allegedly being aware of suspicious activities there.

Lucky South’s officer, Cassandra Ong, and Harry Roque, who helped Ong renew their POGO license, are both evading their warrants for human trafficking. Ong has gone into hiding, while Roque is seeking asylum in The Netherlands, now referred to Austria, claiming that the charges are political persecution.

Capil was reelected as mayor of Porac in the May midterm elections, although his hold of the office is precarious due to legal hurdles rooted from the same case. The Ombudsman has disqualified him from public office, and a division of the Commission on Elections has declared his votes stray. He has been appealing these decisions, which have allowed him to maintain the status quo. – Rappler.com