Beltran’s arraignment deferred

The arraignment of Anakpawis party-list Rep. Crispin Beltran and 1st Lt. Lawrence San Juan of the Magdalo Group before a Makati City court was postponed indefinitely after both the prosecution and the defense moved for its deferment.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) asked the proceedings to be cancelled after filing a motion to amend information in the charge sheet in an effort to further detail the charges of rebellion against the two accused.

The defense also moved for the postponement of the arraignment pending the filing of a motion for reconsideration which seeks to reverse the court’s earlier decision to proceed with the case’s prosecution after finding probable cause to indict Beltran and San Juan.

The DOJ’s motion to amend information now mentions how the two accused allegedly worked in conspiracy with 46 other individuals, including the so-called "Batasan Five" in their attempt to topple the administration.

Senior State Prosecutor Emmanuel Velasco, in an interview with The Star, said their motion does not seek to amend the charge sheet by adding respondents.

"We just detailed our allegations and informed the court of the co-conspirators. It does not seek to add more to the number of the accused because we have a separate case against them before another Makati court," he explained.

The DOJ originally filed libel charges against Beltran and San Juan before the sala of Makati City Regional Trial Court Branch 137 Judge Jenny Lind Delorino.

But when Delorino junked a move to amend the information contained in the original charge sheet to include 46 other respondents, she was asked to inhibit herself from hearing the case.

The case was then raffled off to the sala of Branch 146 Judge Encarnacion Moya while a separate case of rebellion against the 46 others was filed before the sala of Branch 57 Judge Reinato Quilala.

The DOJ is moving for the consolidation of the two cases but Velasco said their latest motion to amend the charge sheet against Beltran and San Juan does not seek to do it the same way they did when the case was still with Delorino.

"Our motion for consolidation is before Judge Quilala. This motion to amend information is not a motion for consolidation though the "Batasan Five" and the rest of the 46 respondents in the second rebellion case was mentioned," he said.

Moya granted the motions to postpone the arraignment, pending the resolution of both motions filed and still to be filed by the prosecution and defense panels.