ROXAS SLAMS DEVANADERA FOR 'CRIMINAL COLLUSION'
DE LOS ANGELES SHOULD HAVE BEEN SENT STRAIGHT TO JAIL

Vice presidential race front-runner and Liberal Party candidate Senator Mar Roxas today accused Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera of being the prime example of the Arroyo Administration's total disrespect for the rule of law for "colluding with a criminal" in allowing Legacy scam mastermind Celso de los Angeles to remain out of jail despite massive evidence that proves his involvement in the pre-need fund fraud.

Roxas said the decision of Devanadera to place Delos Angeles under house arrest, instead of sending him to jail, reeked of judicial inequity and illustrated the Arroyo administration's indifference to the plight of victims of injustice in the past 9 years.

"Sobrang kawalan na ito ng respeto sa mga sinalanta nitong si Celso de los Angeles, lalo na ang libo-libong mga magulang na nawalang parang bula ang inipong pera para sa kinabukasan ng kanilang mga anak at ng mga retiradong gusto lang mabuhay ng magaan sa kanilang pagtanda (This is too much disrespect for the rights of those parents who lost their savings for a better future for their children and retirees who wanted a better life in their old age)," Roxas said, adding, "Hindi ko pababayaang mangyari ito sa ilalim ng isang (I will not allow this to happen under an) Aquino-Roxas administration."

He demanded that Devanadera send De los Angeles straight to jail instead of allowing him to enjoy the life of a free man in his supposed suite at the Cathedral Heights Complex in Quezon City near the St. Luke's Hospital in Quezon City.

The LP vice-presidential candidate pointed out that there is a standing warrant of arrest against De los Angeles issued by the Cagayan de Oro regional trial court. The court had earlier authorized De los Angeles to be confined in St. Luke's for treatment of his supposed cancer of the throat.

Delos Angeles is facing a string of syndicated estafa and other charges for defrauding tens of thousands of pre-need policyholders and bank depositors of billions of pesos in funds from the Legacy group of pre-need companies, including 12 rural banks.

Roxas, who is leading all pre-election surveys for voter preferences in the vice-presidential race, had initiated and led an exhaustive Senate investigation last year into the collapse of the Legacy group and other pre-need companies.

Based on the evidence culled from the investigation, Roxas, along with several Legacy victims, had filed a number of syndicated estafa cases against Delos Angeles and other Legacy officers.