2 brothers file complaints against VP De Castro’s wife
MANILA, Philippines – Two men claiming to be sons from a previous marriage of Arlene Sinsuat de Castro, the wife of Vice President Noli de Castro, yesterday filed several complaints against her before the National Bureau of Investigation.
Jhoveenel Ombus Olor, 34, and his brother Arjurie Omar, 33, both of Calamba, Laguna, filed complaints for bigamy, perjury and falsification of documents against Arlene.
Vice President de Castro and his wife refused to comment on the cases, saying they would just let their lawyers respond to the charges.
Accompanied by their lawyer, the brothers claimed Arlene’s marriage to their father Juanito Olor was “still valid and subsisting” when she married Manuel de Castro Jr. on July 16, 1991 in Cotabato City.
“At the time she executed her marriage with Manuel de Castro Jr. she did so by perjuring her statement and falsified said document,” the complainants said in their joint affidavit. The complainants provided xerox copies of what they said were Arlene’s supposed two certificates of marriage. One showed that Arlene was married to Olor on Nov. 17, 1971 at the Manila City Hall.
Both marriage certificates stated she was single at the time of their execution.
Lawyer Vladimir Bugarin, counsel for the complainants, said there were no documents to show that Arlene’s first marriage was annulled before she married De Castro.
The brothers said they decided to file complaints against Arlene because they wanted her to acknowledge them as her children.
Acknowledgment
“She abandoned us when we were young. I think I was then 5,” said Arjurie. He said he and his brother were left in the custody of their father, who was an overseas Filipino worker, so they grew up in the care of their grandfather.
“We just want her to straighten things out,” Arjurie said. He added that his search for their mother began when he saw her name listed in the end credits of a television program. Arlene was the former vice president for current affairs for the television network ABS-CBN.
“I thought the name was quite familiar. It reminded me of my mother’s name. So we went to ABS-CBN to confirm this, but she wouldn’t talk to us,” Arjurie claimed.
The few times they saw her, he said, Arlene asked them to just call her “Babo,” the Muslim equivalent of “Tita.”
Arjurie also said they were hurt when they found out that Arlene had legally adopted a relative as her daughter.
“Nag-ampon siya samantalang kaming tunay niyang anak ayaw niyang kilalanin (She was able to adopt, but she won’t even acknowledge us as her children),” he lamented.
The complainants said they had nothing against De Castro.
“This has nothing to do with politics. We could have come out in 2004 when he was running for vice president, if this was our motive,” Arjurie said. “We’re not after the money or anything. We just want to be acknowledged. We are just fighting for our rights.”
De Castro told the Inquirer he knew Arlene had two sons and a daughter from a previous marriage. “This is too personal. My wife and I will just let our lawyers answer the charges,” he said. With Cynthia D. Balana
Tags: affidavit, Arlene Sinsuat, falsification of documents, marriage certificate, Noli De Castro, perjury, vice president
