DOJ indicts Davidson Bangayan for perjury

MANILA, Philippines – While it has yet to pin down businessman Davidson Bangayan for his alleged smuggling operations, the Department of Justice (DOJ) instead found probable cause to file a case of perjury against him.

In a resolution dated April 8 but released only on Wednesday, June 25, the DOJ approved the indictment of Bangayan for lying under oath.

His case stemmed from his repeated denial before two separate Senate hearings on January 22 and February 3 that he is not the alleged big-time rice smuggler David Tan.

An affidavit he signed in a 2005 libel complaint, however, indicates that he is “a.k.a. David Tan.”

The same affidavit was used by one Horace Cruda to file the perjury complaint against him before the DOJ, which resolved that the case can stand trial before a court. Cruda is the legislative committee secretary of the Senate committee on agriculture and food.

During the preliminary investigation into his case, Bangayan argued there is no credible evidence to indict him. He said he had to refer to himself as “a.k.a. David Tan” in the 2005 libel complaint he filed, as the newspaper report where the libel case was based called him “a.k.a. David Tan.”

But the DOJ said his denial before the Senate indicated a probability that he deliberately lied under oath.

“Undeniably, respondent was conscious of the fact that his statements, given during the subject hearings of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, were false. He knew fully well that he had previously signed a document under oath which states that he is ‘David Tan,’ and yet he denied this when questioned by the Committee,” the resolution said.

The resolution was penned by prosecution lawyer Loverhette Jeffrey Villordon. – Rappler.com