BAGUIO CITY – Regional director Jose Eduardo Natividad of the Cordillera office of the Department of Transportation (DOTr-CAR) is contemplating on filing perjury charges against those who fabricated statements against him relative to the supposed collection of money in exchange for franchises and separate libel charges against his embattled deputy Mohammad Naser Abbas for constantly issuing malicious statements against him in media interviews.
Natividad claimed that those who issued false statements against him which was used by Abbas in filing complaints against him in the DOTr central office will be dealt with accordingly so that they will suffer the consequences of their illegal acts while those who already issued retractions will be spared from whatever legal action he will make in the coming weeks.
“Our legal officers are still studying the appropriate charges to be filed against those who issued false statements against me just to satisfy the complaint of Abbas. It is not yet too late for them to take back their false statements because we understand that they were pressured to sign documents with false statements,” Natividad stressed.
Based on a number of affidavits submitted in support of the complaint of Abbas against him, some members of the transport groups in the city allegedly gave him certain amounts of money in exchange for the alleged issuance of franchises or for the release of their impounded motor vehicles, among other alleged corruption activities, which Natividad claims are not actually true.
The DOTr-CAR official claimed, based on the verification conducted by concerned individuals, those who signed the affidavits were not aware of the contents of the documents which were presented to them by some lawyers for his supposed ouster.
In the libel case against Abbas, Natividad asserted that his deputy had been granting interviews and repeatedly maligned him as being corrupt and involved in irregularities that have tainted not only his status in the society but also the overall image of the agency which is considered unbecoming of a public official.
Earlier Natividad and Abbas were both slapped a 90-day suspension by the DOTr central office following complaints that were separately filed against them and that their cases are now undergoing assessment and evaluation by independent investigators.
The cases against Natividad were filed by Abbas while the numerous extortion cases filed against Abbas were submitted by members of the transport sector who were victims of his alleged malpractices while serving as an official of the agency in the region.
Worst, Abbas does not allegedly possess reappointment documents from President Rodrigo Duterte as he was a presidential appointee of former President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino and he also does not have the required career service executive officer’s eligibility.
Natividad called on those who were fooled by the Abbas camp to sign false statements against him to start reflecting on their falsehoods and that he will welcome if they will voluntarily decide to retract their statements against him because he never committed such act of demanding money from them in exchange for franchises and release of impounded vehicles as he stands by the policy of the agency in the aggressive implementation of the anti-colorum campaign in the region. By HENT
