CEBU, Philippines - The intramurals between the Ombudsman and Department of Justice prosecutors over who has authority to prosecute the murder case against SPO1 Adonis Dumpit is finally over.
The Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office yesterday yielded to the Ombudsman prosecutors the active prosecution of the case.
In a three-page manifestation he filed before the Regional Trial Court Branch 6, Cebu City Prosecutor Nicolas Sellon said that his office is relinquishing the responsibility to the anti-graft prosecutors.
“There is no question, therefore, that the prosecution of this case is still in ‘very good and competent hands,’” Sellon’s manifestation read.
According to Sellon, while they have been given authority by the Ombudsman for the military to prosecute the case, the Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas was also given similar authority.
The authority granted to the Ombudsman prosecutors was contained in a memorandum issued by the military ombudsman on August 3, 2005.
The memorandum quoted Section 15 (1) and (10) of the Republic Act 6770 otherwise known as the Ombudsman Act of 1989.
Such authority was forwarded by graft investigation and prosecution officer Alfred Oguis to Sellon on January 25.
Sellon acknowledged the fact that while they both have the authority to prosecute the case but it was the Ombudsman prosecutors that has filed the most, if not all, pleadings relative to the case before the court.
According to Sellon, the DOJ prosecutors with the conformity of the private complainant have all agreed to entrust the active prosecution of the case to the Ombudsman.
The prosecutors likewise made a manifestation relative to the pending motion to have the trial venue transferred to Makati City that the private offended party and the defense have vehemently opposed the move.
Sellon said that this shows that the parties to the case have never lost their full trust and confidence with the court. The withdrawal of the city prosecutor from the case is expected to expedite the resolution of the pending motions which were affected because of the intramurals between the prosecutors.
The court earlier deferred the resolution of the motion filed by Dumpit to allow him to be detained at the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-7 and not in the Cebu City Jail because of security reasons.
Judge Ester Veloso did not rule on the motion until the prosecution shall have secured a clarification from the ombudsman military who has the real authority to represent the State in the case.
Dumpit is charged with murder over the death of suspected robber Ronron Go in December 2004.
Support From Fellow Cops
More than 500 policemen in Cebu City have signed and donated cash as a sign of support for Dumpit.
The collection for Dumpit’s legal fund has reached P39,930 as of yesterday.
Mayor Tomas Osmeña will be turning over the amount to Dumpit.
Osmeña organized the fundraising activity for Dumpit two weeks ago to find out the sentiments of the police in the city, who might have been affected with what happened to Dumpit.
He made public earlier his concern about the possible demoralization among officers which may affect their performance.
He said that he, himself, will help raise funds for Dumpit if he could see that the cop’s colleagues are behind him.
The mayor said that the list of those who expressed support for Dumpit will be forwarded to the Regional Prosecutor’s officer.
“Because they have to know, it’s not because I want to help Adonis, of course I want to help Adonis, but that’s not the motivating factor. We want to see what the police feel about it,” Osmeña said. – Fred P. Languido, Jessica Ann Pareja/NLQ (FREEMAN NEWS)