By Joyce Pangco Pa?ares and Roy Pelovello

PRESIDENT Arroyo has ordered Commissioner Jesus Martinez to go on leave from the Securities and Exchange Commission after he was accused of receiving P4.67 million in bribes from the Legacy Group, which collapsed last year with millions in unpaid debts.

The Justice Department issued a hold-departure order against Martinez, who is set to retire from the commission on Thursday.

The President also ordered the Justice Department, the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission, and the SEC to start their investigation within two days to ensure that Martinez did not escape possible administrative charges once he retired, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said.

?The President is very disappointed. The final outcome of the investigation will determine the kind of administrative punishment that will be meted against Martinez,? Ermita said in an interview after yesterday?s Cabinet meeting in Pampanga.

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said the investigation would include lifestyle checks and would not be limited to Martinez but may include other SEC and central bank officials involved in the Legacy Group mess.

?Some officials from the central bank and the SEC might have to be investigated as well. They might be criminally liable for large-scale estafa,? Gonzalez said.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said all top SEC officials starting from its chairman, Fe Barin, should resign for failing to oversee the Legacy Group?s pre-need business.

?All of them must resign because they are a collegial body. One is not the commission, so they must share the responsibility for the fiasco,?? Enrile said, adding he would file a resolution shortly calling for the resignations.

Legacy chief operating officer Carolina Hinola testified before a Senate inquiry Monday that she gave Martinez P1.475 million on Nov. 9, 2007.

She said Legacy also paid P3.2 million to buy a house and lot in Para?aque City for Martinez?s son, and as a wedding gift from Legacy owner Celso de los Angeles.

Martinez would forfeit his retirement benefits if he was found criminally liable, Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said.

Gonzalez said he had ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to start gathering documents and records from the Senate.

The Citizen?s Battle Against Corruption party list yesterday disowned Martinez, one of its former nominees for a congressional seat.

Party-list Rep. Joel Villanueva, son of evangelist and head of the Jesus Is Lord Movement Eddie Villanueva, admitted that Martinez used to be with the group.

?He used to be with us long, long time ago, but not anymore,? Villanueva said.

?I am saddened that the name of someone I think was an advocate against corruption, like all of us in Cibac, is in the middle of this scandal.?

The House ethics committee said it would not investigate Para?aque Rep. Eduardo Zialciata, who was identified as a Legacy ?consultant? during the Senate hearings.

Committee chairman and Romblon Rep. Eleandro Mardona said his panel could not initiate a complaint against Zialcita on its own, but it would wait for an order from the plenary or the Speaker, a resolution from any House member, or a verified complaint from a private individual.

In a statement e-mailed to journalists, Zialcita admitted that De los Angeles had supported several programs in his district.

Zialcita said this was ?by way of donations voluntarily offered and freely given,? which he accepted on behalf of poor families in his area. With Fel V. Maragay, AFP