LINGAYEN–Fifth District Rep. Amado Espino Jr., former governor, said the extortion attempts first on his youngest son, Bugallon Mayor Jumel Espino, and another on him by an employee of the Ombudsman with the help of his cousin should be enough reason for the Office of Ombudsman to cleanse its ranks.

This was after one Leonardo Nicolas Jr., an employee of the Ombudsman’s office and his cousin Atty. Isagani Nicolas, labor arbiter at the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) in Dagupan City at 5:00 p.m. of July 21 at the function room of Capitol Resort Hotel where they were caught enflagrante receiving more than P1 million marked and ‘boodle’ money.

The entrapment was set at the instance of Cong. Espino and his son Jumel, who coordinated the matter with NBI Central Office and the central office of the Ombudsman itself.

At a press conference Friday morning at the Narciso Ramos Sports and Civic Center, Cong. Espino called Leonardo Nicolas a “fraud” who introduced himself as a lawyer although he is not.

He identified Atty. Isagani Nicolas as the husband of her employee, Thelma, in Congress who had resigned out of shame after the incident.

He said the supposed complaint filed against Jumel and allegedly investigated by the Ombudsman and the supposed lifestyle check on him supposedly initiated by former Alaminos City Mayor Hernani Braganza were both a fabrication.

Espino said in fairness to Braganza he does not believe he had a hand in these fabrications.

He learned that he and Jumel were not the first persons victimized by Nicolas as there were other officials and employees in the provincial government that he and his cohorts contacted and fleeced from for substantial amounts of money by telling them they have complaints filed against them before the Ombudsman.

Many of their victims who were nearing retirement reportedly gave in to the demand of Nicolas for money in return for ‘fixing’ for fear of losing their retirement benefits.

In the case of Mayor Espino, he swore that he has no pending case before the Ombudsman otherwise his town of Bugallon would not have received the Seal of Good Governance from the Department of Interior and Local Government, Provincial Legal Officer Baniqued said.

Baniqued saved the text message to her of Nicolas, stating: “Gud pm..Panyera, pkisabi kay Gov (Espino Jr.) that this is not da beginning or the end. Ako n contact nyo sa loob & I could also help in his black sand mining case”.

Rep. Espino said: “Fully aware that the black sand mining case referred to by Mr. Leo Nicolas has already been decided by the Office of the Ombudsman, and is therefore out of hjs jurisdiction–as it is already pending in the Sandiganbayan, I suspected that Mr. Leo Nicolas is a fraud.”

He said being a former police officer, he instructed Atty. Baniqued to keep the communication lines with Nicolas open with the end in view of facilitating an entrapment should he persist.

The two Nicolas cousins are now facing cases of Violation of Republic Act No. 293 and Republic Act 210 of the Revised Penal l Code and Republic Act 3029 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act aside from administrative cases. (Leonard Micua)

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