Ex-PH envoy to Mexico held for concubinage, posts bail

The public spat between estranged spouses Francisco Ortigas III and Susana Madrigal Bayot took a dramatic turn Wednesday with his arrest on concubinage charges that she had filed against him and his purported mistress.

The 67-year-old Ortigas, a former Philippine ambassador to Mexico, posted bail of P10,000 and was released from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group headquarters at the Southern Police District (CIDG-SPD) in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City, at around 5 p.m.

His special counsel, Elizabeth Loriega, told reporters that the release order was signed by Judge Joy Dumlao of Pasig Metropolitan

Trial Court Branch 72.

Loriega said Ortigas was arrested at around noon at the lobby of Tektite Towers in Ortigas, Pasig City, after a meeting with lawyers from the Puno and Puno Law Offices in the building.

“We had a meeting with him for a corporate matter. We were escorting him to the lobby after the meeting when [the policemen] approached us and told us of the warrant of arrest,” Loriega said.

She said Ortigas “obeyed the police in a dignified manner, and we escorted him all the way here in Taguig.”

“There was no commotion, no scuffle, and the police carried out the arrest in a professional manner,” she added.

Loriega and Alfred Molo, also of Puno and Puno, clarified that they were not Ortigas’ counsel in the concubinage case but offered assistance to him in posting bail.

No need for cuffs

On the phone with the Inquirer, Chief Inspector Bernouli Abalos, the leader of the arresting team, confirmed that contrary to reports, Ortigas did not resist arrest.

“There was no need for handcuffs [because] he was cooperative,” Abalos said. “Together with his lawyers, we escorted him to the [CIDG-SPD] headquarters.”

Abalos also said it was Bayot and her lawyers who sought the police’s help after the arrest warrant was issued by Judge Dumlao on Tuesday.

“The complainant approached us with the arrest warrant, and we immediately conducted a surveillance on [Ortigas],” Abalos said.

Caught unaware

Ortigas’ lawyers were “obviously unaware” of the arrest warrant, according to an Inquirer source.

Bayot, 63, charged Ortigas and her best friend Ma. Antonia Legarda with concubinage after he allegedly took the latter as his mistress and lived with her in a townhouse owned by the spouses in Valle Verde, Pasig City.

She also accused her husband of engaging in extramarital affairs during their four-decade-long marriage.

In the complaint-affidavit dated Dec. 16, 2011, Bayot said: “The painful truth is that I married an abuser, a Scrooge, an incorrigible philanderer, and worse, a pervert.”

In his recommendation for the filing of the concubinage charges, Pasig Assistant City Prosecutor Joselito de Asas said that from his examination of the evidence presented, “there is reasonable ground to believe that the offense has been committed, and that the accused are probably guilty of the offenses charged.”

‘Private matter’

In a statement, Ortigas reiterated his position not to comment on the pending case.

“I’m saddened at having to endure this course of events, which continue to turn a private matter between me and my wife, Susana, into a public spectacle,” he said in the statement read by Loriega.

“Allow me to reiterate, as far as I’m concerned, this is a private matter which refined and civilized individuals avoid elucidating on.”

“Thus, it is my fervent hope that the public will understand and appreciate my preference to keep silent on the matter, but my silence should not be construed as waiving my right to clear my name at the appropriate time.”—With a report from Niña Calleja and Jamie Elona

Originally posted at 05:24 pm | Wednesday, February 15,  2012