YEARENDER: QC courts clear lawmaker in Batasan blast, Tulfo brods

(Second of two parts)

MANILA, Philippines - In March, Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 83 Judge Ralph Lee ordered the removal of former Basilan congressman Gerry Salapuddin from the list of the accused in the 2007 Batasang Pambansa bombing.

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

The judge 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.

Salapuddin’s name was linked to the incident after one of the suspects tagged him as among those who masterminded the blast. The suspect, however, has recanted his admission and claimed that it was extracted from him while he was being tortured.

On April 23, 2008, then Department of Justice (DOJ) secretary Raul Gonzalez issued a 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 CA 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 action of the justice secretary to reverse or modify the findings of investigating prosecutors is not subject to court review unless there is a showing that he or she committed a grave abuse of discretion amounting to an excess or lack of jurisdiction.

The SC said Gonzalez has 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.

Tulfos win case vs Barretto, Santiago

On Nov. 5, Quezon City Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 38 Judge Lyn Ebora Cacha dismissed the grave threats case filed by estranged couple Raymart Santiago and Claudine Barretto against brothers Erwin, Raffy and Ben Tulfo over their statements aired in their television show in 2012.

Nelson Borja, counsel for Erwin, said the judge provisionally dismissed the case against the Tulfos after the complainants failed to appear during a scheduled hearing.

The case stemmed from the supposed threats uttered by the three in their television show on May 7, 2012 – a day after the celebrity couple figured in an altercation at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport with Mon Tulfo, the older brother of the respondents.

In a resolution in November 2012, assistant city prosecutor Rowena Balagtas found probable cause to file two counts of grave threats against Erwin and Raffy and one count for Ben for uttering threats that “alluded the infliction of physical harm upon complainant spouses.”

In January, RTC Branch 219 Judge Maria Filomena Singh also denied the motion for reconsideration by Santiago and Barretto appealing for the reversal of its earlier order dismissing a petition for a writ of amparo that they filed against Erwin, Raffy and Ben.

Santiago and Barretto are currently locked in a legal battle against each other before a Marikina court.

Chavit arrests foreigners in his house

Drug charges were filed before a Quezon City court against the four foreign nationals arrested by Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis “Chavit” Singson inside his residence in January.

In a five-page resolution dated Feb. 1, assistant city prosecutor Irene Resurreccion said there was probable cause to file charges against Britons James Gates, 22; Ross Barnaby MacLeod, 18; Jack McLeod, 19; and Australian Arthur Murray Nash, 19, for violating the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act.

The suspects, who were visitors at Singson’s house in Corinthian Gardens, were caught by the governor in the alleged act of using drugs when he arrived from an out of town trip on Jan. 13.

On Jan. 18, Judge Fernando Sagun Jr. allowed them to post bail as the charges against them are bailable.

In their counter-affidavit, the foreigners denied the accusations. They said only tobacco from Nash and a cigarette from Gates, and not drug paraphernalia, were recovered from them. They said they were friends with Christian Singson, the governor’s son.

In her resolution, Resurreccion said the claims presented by the respondents are matters of defense that are best ventilated during the course of the trial.

“There is evidence on record against respondents as reflected in the laboratory test results submitted by the police officer,” the prosecutor said.