DOJ official accused of usurping authority

The lawyers of Iriga City Mayor Emmanuel Alfelor have accused acting Justice Secretary Jose Calida of usurpation of authority for reversing an earlier resolution of the Department of Justice (DOJ) dismissing the triple murder charges against Alfelor and his seven co-accused.

In a statement, lawyers Carlo Osi and Jose Ilao said they filed a complaint before the office of Justice Secretary Simeon Datumanong for what they branded as an illegal act by Calida.

The two lawyers are set to file a motion for reconsideration with the DOJ next week to formally seek a reversal of Calida’s order.

They said Calida acted with "due haste" and "evident bad faith" and asked Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuño to disregard Calida’s order for lack of "legal course" and hold the filing of charges against Alfelor and his co-accused.

Alfelor’s lawyers are set to file a motion for reconsideration before the DOJ next week to formally seek the reversal of Calida’s order.

Osi and Ilao added in their complaint that they asked for Calida’s inhibition from the Alfelor case last March in view of the undersecretary’s apparent personal and extraordinary interest in the case and partiality in favor of the complainants.

The two lawyers said there were incidents to support their allegation about Calida’s bias. First, they said, Calida was present during a news conference in which Madeleine Alfelor, the Iriga mayor’s wife, accused their client of marital rape.

After that, Calida "apparently caused" the creation of a National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) task force to probe the charges of marital rape and other crimes allegedly committed by Alfelor.

Calida then called a news conference to announce that the NBI had filed multiple murder charges against Alfelor and seven others.

Osi and Ilao said Calida’s actions violated the anti-graft law.

Due to insufficient evidence, the DOJ dismissed the multiple murder charges against Alfelor and his co-accused in August.

In a 12-page resolution, State Prosecutors Aileen Marie Gutierrez and Mark Jalandoni said the supposed eyewitness in the killing of Reynaldo Licup, Geoffrey Remodo and Rommel Barillos on Dec. 4, 2002 gave contrary statements and lacked credibility.

Besides the Iriga mayor, cleared of the multiple murder charges were Aldo Turiano, Jessie Intia, Armando Padi, Bong Gazmen, Rita Villanueva-Turiano, Santiago Tampoco and Richard Nacario. Four other unidentified persons were also implicated in the case.

The case stemmed from the complaint filed by the victims’ wives, who accused Alfelor of having Licup killed because the mayor was jealous and suspicious that Licup was having an affair with Madeleine. The two others who were killed along with Licup were apparently accidental victims who had been drinking with Licup in Baao, Camarines Sur that day.

Despite the earlier DOJ resolution citing lack of evidence as the reason for dismissing the multiple murder charges against Alfelor and his co-accused, Calida said he found probable cause to reverse the resolution.

Calida said his decision was based on the merits of the case and evidence presented. He also said he would stand by his decision and is not afraid of hurting powerful people in the process.

Alfelor’s lawyers said Calida was not even acting secretary of the DOJ when he reversed the state prosecutors’ decision, as Datumanong had also designated DOJ Undersecretary Merceditas Gutierrez acting secretary of the department from Dec. 9 to 11.

A memorandum from the Office of the President dated Dec. 8 confirmed the designation of Gutierrez and that it was Calida who attended the Cabinet meeting. However, Malacañang left clarifying the matter up to Datumanong.