DOJ orders withdrawal of criminal raps in Ludo & Luym case

CEBU, Philippines - The Department of Justice in Manila has ordered the Office of the City Prosecutor to withdraw the information of criminal cases filed against the five incorporators of LuDo & Luym Development Corp. (LLDC).

DOJ Undersecretary Francisco Baraan III signed the resolution granting the instant petition for review filed by the accused.

In effect, the accused are not yet criminally charged pending review of the case filed against them.

Baraan restated what the Supreme Court said in Albay Accredited Constructors Association, Inc. vs. Honorable Ombudsman Anian Desierto, et. Al., G.R. No. 133517, January 30, 2006, thus: “There is no dispute that the function of preliminary investigation is to determine the existence of probable cause. It must be stressed, however, that as early as in the cases of U.S. v. Grant (18 Phil, 122) and the Haashim v. Boncan (71 Phil. 216,) the court had ruled that the ultimate purpose of preliminary investigation is to secure the innocent against hasty, malicious, and oppressive prosecutions, and to protect him from open and public accusation of a crime, from the trouble, expenses and anxiety of a public trial, and also to protect the State from useless and expensive prosecutions.”

Municipal Trial Court in Cities (MTCC) Branch 5 Presiding Judge Oscar Andrino ordered the release of John Luym, Evelyn Luym, Johnson Eric Luym, Raquel Kaye Luym and Erlinda Gidayawan after the respondents posted a cash bond on February 17, 2012.

Andrino recommended P12,000 bail for John, Evelyn, Raquel and Erlinda’s temporary liberty and P24,000 for Johnson Eric for two counts of falsification of private documents.

In the complainant filed by Douglas Luym, a resident of Maria Luisa Estate Park, Banilad, Cebu City, the five respondents allegedly helped each other with intent to falsify a document.

Douglas was a stockholder of the Ludo and Luym Development Corporation.

He said that in the minutes of the August 20, 2008 meeting, respondents “made it appear that they had authority to arrogate unto themselves the custody and control over and convey all the properties of Ludodev” by approving Board Resolution dated August 27, 2008.

Douglas also alleged that on October 27, 2009, Johnson Eric allegedly falsified a private document consisting of a letter addressed to the Register of Deeds in Cebu City by “misrepresenting himself as trustee or duly authorized representative of the corporation.” — (FREEMAN)