Lawyer gets CA okay on NBI case

CEBU — The Court of Appeals (CA) has allowed a private lawyer to prosecute five agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for the mistaken shooting of six resort employees last Dec. 13.

The appellate court overturned the ruling of Regional Trial Court Judge Augustine Vestil restraining lawyer Adelino Sitoy from prosecuting the case since he (Sitoy) is allegedly not an Ombudsman-designated counsel.

In an Oct. 17 resolution, the CA granted a petition by the Plantation Bay Resort employees asking that Sitoy be allowed to continue representing them in the case.

In what witnesses described as a "near-massacre," NBI agents and confidential agents fired at the Mitsubishi L-300 van the resort personnel were riding in, mistaking the vehicle to be the one a drug supplier they were pursuing, was using.

The CA ordered Vestil to proceed with the hearing of the case tomorrow.

It cited a provision in the Ombudsman Act allowing a lawyer in government to act as a special investigator in prosecuting the case.

The resort employees earlier assailed Vestil, saying he disregarded their right to be represented by a counsel of their choice. — Freeman News Service