National Bureau of Investigation Bacolod head agent, Mamerto Cortez, yesterday defended the decision of his office to file a case against the seven officers of the Philippine National Bank Bacolod Main Office over allegedly missing funds of the National Federation of Sugarcane Planters.

Cortez said he welcomed the fact-finding probe conducted recently by special investigator Elizardo Beltran, who was deployed by the NBI main office in Bacolod City after former NFSP accountant Penuel Tanio sought a probe on him for filing the case, among other complaints.

“What he (Tanio) did was wrong. I did not fire him. He should have filed a case against his employer, (NFSP president) Enrique Rojas,” he said in an interview with Capitol reporters.

Tanio, who claimed to have discovered the missing P8.037 million from the NFSP Sugar Market Development Fund and known the mastermind in the case, had earlier said in his complaint to the NBI central office that Cortez should be held liable for conduct unbecoming of an NBI officer, for using the false affidavits and testimonies in filing the complaint, and for corruption involving money matters.

As to using false affidavits, Cortez said he could not have manipulated both NFSP corporate secretary, Augusto Araneta, and bookkeeper Marilyn Concha to sign the sworn statements that were the basis of the complaint filed against the seven PNB officers.

“Atty. Araneta has been practicing law for more than 30 years and is also a law professor. Do you think I can manipulate this person to sign a document?” Cortez asked.

He added that Concha, being   a law graduate, would not also sign a document unless she has read it, and she has also been working with NFSP for more than 17 years.

Cortez said he was informed that Tanio was asking why he was dropped as a witness by the NFSP.

He said that Beltran pointed out that Tanio cannot serve as a witness because the NFSP employees have filed 14 counts of falsification of commercial documents cases against him for encashing their checks without their permission.

Cortez said Beltran told Tanio, “How can you be a witness to the case when you have committed a wrongdoing (against the company), that would be a conflict of interest.”*NLG

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