Court asked to defer arraignment of Dumpit

CEBU, Philippines - The legal counsel of SPO1 Adonis Dumpit has filed a motion for reconsideration with motion to defer the arraignment of the case following the recent omnibus order of Regional Trial Court Branch 6 Judge Ester Veloso denying a motion that sought to downgrade the charges against the policeman from murder to homicide.

Lawyer Pedro Leslie Salva has asked the court to defer the arraignment scheduled this morning following its motion for reconsideration asking the court to admit the amended information for homicide.

Salva, in his six-page motion, explained that the denial by Veloso to downgrade the murder charge to homicide will adversely affect the substantial rights of his client.

“The accused, up to this very moment, is still in quandary why in the first place he has to face a criminal complaint when he was only performing his sworn duty as a police officer when he responded to that robbery alarm,” the motion reads.

“There is no dispute that this instant case is within the jurisdiction of the Ombudsman for the Military and Other Law Enforcement Offices (MOLEO) to investigate and prosecute. Either the office of the Cebu City Prosecutor and the Office of the Ombudsman Visayas could only be acting for and in behalf of the MOLEO,” it added.

The MOLEO earlier downgraded the murder charge to homicide following the reinvestigation of the case.

But Judge Veloso earlier said the court order which considered the reinvestigation on Dumpit’s case as “not proper” was not opposed by either the prosecutor or the defense.

“As a result, the reinvestigation conducted by the prosecution, despite the order was done without leave of court. This renders the motion to admit amended information based on such reinvestigation bereft of legal and factual basis,” Veloso said, adding the reinvestigation conducted by the MOLEO was not sanctioned by court.

The judge however granted the prosecution’s motion to detain Dumpit at the detention cell of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG-7) to ensure his safety. — Jasmin U. Labaco/WAB (THE FREEMAN)