Castro admits taking proof sans permission

Controversial assistant city prosecutor Mary Ann Castro has entangled herself again in another controversy after she admitted she took a court document without permission.

Two employees of the Branch 4 of the Municipal Trial Court in Cities discovered that a picture of Jake Yu was missing from the court record, suspecting that it has been taken by Castro, who earlier came to see it.

Yu and his brother Nanak were the respondents of a malicious mischief and grave slander case that Castro had filed last year.

Court interpreter Helen Mongaya said she saw Castro browsing the files of the case, adding that when the assistant city prosecutor saw her, the fiscal then closed the documents. Mongaya said her co-worker, Adeth del Pilar, could also attest to what she saw.

Before Castro immediately left, Mongaya said, "I saw her detach the picture." She added that when she found out that one of the pictures was lost from the files, she yelled at her co-workers, who together with her, ran to get it from Castro.

But when they saw Castro attend a Mass at the second floor of the Palace of Justice, Mongaya said they did not bother to distract her.

After the Mass, Castro went back to the court carrying two photocopies of the cash bail bond of the Yu brothers. One of the photocopies of the bail bond has been attached to Jake's picture that Castro reportedly took.

But in an interview, Castro said she was shocked upon learning the allegation that she stole the photo of Yu. She explained that she only took the picture to have it photocopied for the cash bail bond, which she would use for her petition to the motion to quash the information filed by lawyer Vicente Fernandez II and Nanak, the respondents of her libel case.

Yesterday was the last day for Castro to file the petition, but because of the incident, the fiscal said she might ask the court for an extension.

Castro said she was set to return the picture immediately, but had to hear Mass. Castro admitted her mistake for not asking permission from MTCC Branch 4 judge Rosabella Tormis.

She said it was a "lapse of judgment," adding that she was sorry for causing trouble to the staff of the court.

But Tormis, who showed disgust over Castro's actuation, did not accept the picture that Castro returned to her.

"I'll order her to explain," the angry Tormis told reporters.

Castro, however, sent the judge a letter explaining that what she did was not in bad faith. In fact, Castro said that had she not attended the Mass, she would have returned the picture immediately. - Liv G. Campo