CA OKs Pastor widow’s arrest

MANILA, Philippines — The Court of Appeals (CA) has given the green light for the arrest of the widow of international car racer Enzo Pastor to face trial for parricide.

In a 10-page resolution dated Sept. 14 and released to media only yesterday, the Seventh Division of the appellate court dismissed the petition of Dalia Guerrero-Pastor for a temporary restraining order (TRO) stopping her arrest.

The Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 91 issued  a warrant for Dalia’s arrest in March 2015.

The CA explained that it could not grant the petitioner’s plea because her arguments are hinged on the merits of her petition that sought to void her indictment.

“We cannot make any pronouncement that would preempt the merits of the main case. The prevailing rule is that courts should avoid issuing a writ of preliminary injunction that would in effect dispose of the main case without trial,” read the ruling penned by Associate Justice Maria Elisa Sempio Diy.

The CA held that the petitioner failed to prove that the trial court committed grave abuse of discretion in ordering her arrest.

“Dalia failed to satisfy all the requisites necessary for the issuance of an injunctive relief. She failed to persuade us that there is an urgency for the relief,” the CA said.

Associate Justices Celia Librea-Leagogo and Florito Macalino concurred with the ruling.

In her petition, Dalia questioned her indictment and asked the CA to void the RTC’s decision finding probable cause on the parricide charges against her.

Aside from the statements of the alleged gunman, former policeman Edgar Angel, Dalia said there was no evidence that would show that she conspired with Angel  and his alleged lover businessman Domingo “Sandy” de Guzman in killing Pastor.

De Guzman has been charged with murder in connection with Pastor’s death. 

Dalia questioned the credibility of Angel since he had retracted his statements after claiming that he was tortured and coerced into signing them.

Dalia and De Guzman were indicted by the Department of Justice (DOJ) in February 2015.

The DOJ held that although there was no direct proof pointing to the defendants as direct participants in Pastor’s killing, “there is interlocking circumstantial evidence that would point to their complicity in the commission of the crime.”

DOJ prosecutors said that despite Angel’s retraction, the case against Dalia remains strong after Chona Domen, housemaid of the Pastors, executed an affidavit detailing the alleged  illicit affair of Dalia and De Guzman.

Pastor was shot dead at the corner of Congressional and Visayas Avenues in Quezon City while on his way to a car racing competition in Pampanga on June 12, 2014.