Cops in arrest of film director face raps

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police has filed administrative cases against the PNP officers who arrested film director Jade Castro and his three companions for the burning of a modern jeep in Catanauan, Quezon on Jan. 31.

One of Castro’s lawyers, Michel Marpuri, disclosed this in a press conference yesterday, a day after the Catanauan Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 96 granted the motion of Castro, civil engineers Noel Mariano and Dominic Ramos and sales manager Ernesto Orcine to quash the destructive arson case filed against them.

RTC Judge Julius Francos Galvez ordered the release of the three from the Catanauan jail on Monday night due to “lack of jurisdiction of the court on the accused due to the invalidity of their arrest.”

“I just got a phone call from the PNP Regional Internal Affairs Service, that they filed motu proprio administrative cases against the chief of police, the investigators and the arresting officers for unlawful arrest,” Marpuri said.

The driver, conductor and a passenger of the modern jeep reportedly identified the four as the men who burned the vehicle in Barangay Dahican.

Castro and his companions, however, said they were at a resort in Malunay town when the incident occurred.

Various groups have condemned the warrantless arrest of the four.

The PNP is eyeing the refiling of criminal complaints against the four.

PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo said the court decision was based on the failure of the police to provide sufficient evidence to justify the arrest within the parameters of hot pursuit.

However, Fajardo said the decision ”does not bar the filing of appropriate charges” against Castro’s group.

The arson was suspected to be in protest against the phaseout of traditional jeepneys. — Mark Ernest Villeza