MANILA, Philippines - A Quezon City judge has issued a hold departure order (HDO) against a businessman accused as one of the masterminds in the murder of international racer Enzo Pastor last year.
Regional Trial Court Branch 85 Judge Luisito Cortez issued the HDO against Domingo “Sandy” de Guzman III to prevent him from leaving the country and escape the jurisdiction of the court.
A copy of the HDO was sent to the Bureau of Immigration and the Departments of Justice and Foreign Affairs.
The order was issued upon the request of the prosecution panel, which noted the possibility of De Guzman fleeing the country as he is facing a non-bailable offense.
The suspect, currently facing the charge of murder before the court, is the subject of an arrest warrant issued by Cortez in August. De Guzman remains at large.
Despite this, his lawyers continue to appear in court, even filing an appeal seeking the recall of the warrant of arrest.
In his appeal, De Guzman claimed that Cortez relied heavily on a testimony of a witness, Alvin Nidua, who did not have personal knowledge of the supposed plan to kill Pastor.
He also claimed that there is no evidence that links him to the killing of the accused as the alleged gunman, Police Officer 2 Edgar Angel, has recanted his earlier extrajudicial testimony.
Angel initially tagged De Guzman and Pastor’s widow, Dahlia Guerrero-Pastor, as the masterminds of the shooting but later recanted his testimony.
Guerrero-Pastor, who is also subject of an arrest warrant and an HDO, has yet to surface following the filing of a parricide case against her over the killing of her husband.