QC court dismisses rebellion conspiracy raps vs Maceda

A Quezon City judge dismissed yesterday charges of conspiracy to commit rebellion against former senator and ambassador to the United States Ernesto Maceda for lack of jurisdiction.

Judge Thelma Ponferada of Regional Trial Court Branch 104 also allowed Maceda to withdraw the P60,000 bail bond he posted on May 7, days after his arrest.

"The court dismisses the case for lack of jurisdiction over the offense charged in the information," Ponferada said in her one-page ruling.

The dismissal of the charges in the RTC paves the way for the filing of the conspiracy to commit rebellion charges with the Metropolitan Trial Court, the authority that has jurisdiction over the case.

Government prosecutors earlier asked Ponferada to withdraw the information of the charges because the case was inadvertently filed with the RTC instead of the MTC.

Under the law, a charge of conspiracy to commit rebellion falls under the jurisdiction of the MTCs.

Maceda was arrested May 2 on charges that he conspired with other influential politicians to commit rebellion by firing up a mob to attack Malacañang Palace before dawn of May 1 to reinstall jailed former President Joseph Estrada in office.

But military soldiers and policemen blocked the protesters, triggering a bloody clash between government troopers and Estrada supporters, many of them said to be under the influence of drugs and liquor.

Maceda’s lawyer Manuel Calanog Jr. also asked the court to quash the information without prejudice to the filing of the case before the people’s court.

One of the pieces of material evidence the government prosecutors used in charging Maceda was the video footage allegedly showing the former senator agitating the crowd gathered at the Our Lady of Edsa Shrine in Mandaluyong City.

About 50,000 supporters of Estrada held a rally in front of the shrine shortly after the fallen leader was arrested by police on April 25 on orders of the Sandiganbayan in connection with criminal charges, including the case of plunder, a capital offense.

Aside from Maceda, also arrested for rebellion following the assault on the Palace was outgoing Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, whose warrantless arrest was backed by Quezon City Judge Ma. Theresa Yadao of Branch 81.

Senators-elect Gregorio Honasan and Panfilo Lacson were also charged for the attack but evaded arrest by going into hiding after President Arroyo declared a "state of rebellion" in Metro Manila. They surfaced after the state of rebellion was lifted.

It can be recalled that the government had hinted that it might no longer pursue the charges against Maceda and Enrile "in the spirit of reconciliation" after the May 14 elections.

Maceda also recently was in the news to deny allegations by foreign affairs sources that he had hustled 25 Filipinos into the United States during his term as ambassador to Washington.

He said all he vouched for were six household help, and that the disinformation was just another means of harassment of a supporter of Estrada.