Ex-lawmaker no longer a suspect in 2007 Batasan blast

MANILA, Philippines - A Quezon City court has ordered the removal of former Basilan congressman Gerry Salapuddin’s name from the list of those accused in the 2007 Batasang Pambansa bombing.

Regional Trial Court Branch 83 Judge Ralph Lee issued the two-page order upon receiving a copy of the Supreme Court (SC) resolution dated Feb. 25, 2013, which cleared the former lawmaker from the multiple murder and frustrated murder charges.

Lee also recalled the warrant of arrest and the hold departure order issued on April 28, 2008 against Salapuddin.

The case was in connection with the Nov. 13, 2007 Batasan blast that killed six people, including then Basilan Rep. Wahab Akbar. Among the injured were then Negros Oriental Rep. Pryde Henry Teves and then Gabriela party-list Rep. Luzviminda Ilagan.

One of the suspects identified Salapuddin as among those who masterminded the bombing. The suspect, however, recanted his admission and claimed that it was extracted from him while he was being tortured.

Then Department of Justice (DOJ) secretary Raul Gonzalez issued an April 23, 2008 resolution excluding Salapuddin from the list of the accused as there was no probable cause to indict him in the bombing.

Gonzalez’s resolution was later questioned before the Court of Appeals by Akbar’s wife and the wife of one of those injured in the blast.

In resolving the petitions, the appellate court reversed the DOJ finding and ordered the reinstatement of Salapuddin as a suspect in the blast.

In its recent decision, however, the SC noted that the DOJ secretary’s action to reverse or modify the findings of investigating prosecutors is not subject to court review unless it can be shown that the secretary committed a grave abuse of discretion amounting to an excess or lack of jurisdiction.

The SC said Gonzalez decided in accordance with jurisprudence when he ordered the exclusion of Salapuddin from the list of suspects as there was no evidence or testimony suggesting that the former lawmaker was present during the blast.