Cayetano to question P50 contempt fine

Sen. Renato Cayetano said yesterday he would question up to the Supreme Court the reported order of Cebu City Judge Rosabella Tormis fining him P50 for alleged contempt of court.

Cayetano, chairman of the Senate committee on justice and human rights, drew the ire of Tormis when he questioned why she had failed to conduct marathon hearings on the mauling case against three American servicemen and ordered their release to their superior officer.

Michael Keyes, Shanon Towers and Johnny Earl Lowerey, all of the USS Blue Ridge, were accused of mauling taxi driver Marcelo Batestil last March 12 and also for failing and refusing to pay the P800 fare.

Cayetano said he had not yet received Tormis' order but he indicated that if the reports were true, then he would contest the order up to the Supreme Court.

"There is no basis for citing me for contempt," he contended.

He also questioned the resolution adopted by the Integrated Bar of the Philippines-Cebu chapter supporting Tormis.

He said that the IBP chapter might not have read his statement on the Batestil case "or they would not have issued that resolution of support for Judge Tormis."

"I merely questioned the procedure, not the merits of the case so it was not sub judice. It was an issue of national import and I merely answered a question from a Senate reporter. Furthermore, I was supporting the stand of the Department of Foreign Affairs that the Philippines had primary jurisdiction over the Batestil mauling case," Cayetano said.

He has already filed before the Supreme Court a case of misconduct against Tormis for talking with the Cebu press against him even before she has formally asked him to explain.

He said that when he read Tormis' comments against him he immediately predicted that she would cite him for contempt.

"It is very unusual for a judge to issue a statement to the press on alleged contemptuous remarks even before she could ask for an explanation," Cayetano added. --