Leviste arrested, held without bail

Police arrested yesterday former Batangas governor Jose Antonio Leviste on orders of a Makati City judge who upgraded the case against him from homicide to murder, which is non-bailable.

Armed with an arrest warrant issued by Judge Elmo Alameda of Branch 150, policemen picked up Leviste at the scene of the crime at the LPL Tower in Legaspi Village shortly before 2 p.m.

In issuing the arrest warrant, the court in effect upheld the motion of Senior State Prosecutor Emmanuel Velasco for the case against Leviste to be upgraded to murder.

"It’s a sham. It’s a charade. There was a prejudgment. It is obvious that there are influential forces, unseen forces that are determined to harm me, even destroy me," Leviste said in a statement to media after his arrest.

"I have nothing to hide, I am innocent, and my conscience is clear and I am anxious to clear my name," he said.

The case stemmed from Leviste’s shooting of Rafael de las Alas, his executive officer, in the former governor’s LPL Tower office last Jan. 12.

Leviste admitted killing De las Alas but claimed it was self-defense. De las Alas suffered multiple gunshot wounds.

Before he was transferred to the Makati City jail, an emotional Leviste lashed out at the prosecution for allegedly subjecting him to trial by publicity. He said it was his family that was bearing the brunt of what his lawyer described as "unfair and unreasonable violation of his constitutional rights." But he said he is convinced that he will be cleared eventually.

He said that with his deteriorating health, he needs regular medical attention.

Leviste was accompanied by lawyers Henry Capela and Manuel Singson.

Superintendent Gilbert Cruz, Makati City Police chief, told The STAR that Leviste did not surrender but was in fact arrested. Cruz made the clarification in the wake of earlier reports that Leviste turned himself in to policemen.

The court, in a seven-page resolution, said it approved the filing of murder charges against Leviste based on a reinvestigation conducted by the Department of Justice upon the request of the victim’s family.

"We still have legal remedies. In fact in our prayer with the Court of Appeals, we sought to clarify and restrain all these moro-moro (publicity stunt)," Capela told The STAR.

"We might also move to quash or hold in abeyance the execution of the warrant. That’s another legal option we might take," he added.

Capela said they might also file a motion for judicial determination of probable cause and assured that Leviste would not try to evade prosecution.

"Rest assured that our client, the governor, will not run away, he will disprove all his accusers and prove this unfair and unreasonable violation of his constitutional rights. I promise, he will not run, he will not hide," he said.

"He will be treated as an ordinary inmate. He will have to undergo mug shots and will be taken to a cell," City Jail warden, Superintendent Delivic Oreiro said.

Meanwhile at the Court of Appeals, one of the justices handling Leviste’s petition for certiorari and prohibition which seeks to nullify Judge Alameda’s order for reinvestigation of the case has been replaced.

Attorney Capela said one of the justices inhibited himself prompting the CA to raffle off the petition to another justice yesterday.