A HOUSE committee yesterday recommended the filing of criminal charges against State Prosecutor John Resado following his refusal to further answer questions on his bank accounts.

The oversight committee on dangerous drugs agreed on the move on the initiative of Rep. Antonio Cuenco, and it came after Resado refused to say how much money he had deposited.

Resado is being investigated for dismissing the charges against three men accused of drug trafficking. He is also accused of not declaring his income, tax evasion, and failing to register his lending business with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Resado has invoked the sub-judice rule and his right against self-incrimination in refusing to answer questions over his bank accounts.

?In as much as Prosecutor Resado refuses to answer our questions, we are constrained to move that the committee recommend to the Ombudsman the filing of charges against him,? Cuenco said.

The committee also approved the motion of Bayan Muna Rep. Teodoro Casi?o requesting the Anti-Money Laundering Council to look into the accounts of Resado and those of Senior State Prosecutor Philip Kimpo and Justice Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor, his superiors.

An SEC official said failure to register a lending operation with the agency was an offense punishable with a P10,000 fine and a 10-year jail term.

Blancaflor yesterday confirmed to the committee that he was waiving the secrecy of his account involved in his supposed bank loan of P2.6 million to disprove claims he had been bribed in connection with the drug trafficking case.

Kimpo had earlier also waived the secrecy of his bank accounts.

?During the previous hearings I was very cooperative with the committee, but now the situation is different because a disbarment case has been filed against me before the Supreme Court, and there were reports I would be facing charges for tax evasion and other related charges too,? Resado said.

?I am invoking my right against self-incrimination,? he said and repeated he was not willing to waive the secrecy of his money with Banco de Oro, where he deposited P800,000 a day after submitting his resolution on the drug case.

Resado claims the P800,000 is part of a P1.2- million capital invested in a money-lending operation run by his relatives in Tarlac. Roy Pelovello