40 days dead / Landlord from hell

Wednesday marked the fortieth day since 16-year old high school point guard Kenji Kanai was killed in a vehicular accident along Katipunan Avenue in front of the Ateneo de Manila campus in Quezon City. His family, friends and teammates from Benedictine International School held a quiet commemoration at the Max’s restaurant across the street, playing news footage and features from The Basketball Show, GMA 7 and NHK TV Japan.

The case took a curious turn at the second hearing held at the sala of Judge Elisa Diy of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court. Earlier, the Kanai family had filed a motion for a Hold Departure Order against the accused, Timothy Abejuela, who was driving at a very high speed and rammed into the vehicle that Kanai was alighting from, causing the teen-ager massive trauma to the head, neck, ribs and lungs, resulting in his bleeding to death.

At the scheduled hearing on August 3, Abejuela’s lawyer filed a Motion to Quash, arguing that the RTC had no jurisdiction over the case, despite the fact that research reveals cases of this nature are tried before the RTC.

Judge Diy had supposedly stressed the jurisdiction of the RTC in the first hearing. On August 16, the counsel of the accused argued that the court (which is a juvenile and domestic court) was organized in order to protect the rights of children, and contended that Kanai no longer fell into this category, since he was dead.

Two days later, Judge Diy issued a resolution granting the Motion to Quash and stated that the RTC no longer had any jurisdiction over the case. The issue raised was the law’s use of the linking verb "is" and not "was" in describing minors. The reasoning is that, since Kenji Kanai is deceased, he is no longer a minor, despite the fact that the law makes no such distinction.

The records of the case were ordered transmitted to the Metropolitan Trial Court instead, where either of two things could happen. If the MTC accepts the case, then it will be raffled off and tried. But there is also the possibility that the MTC will order that the case be sent back to the RTC, and in all likelihood, the question of the word "is" in reference to deceased youngsters will be sent to the Supreme Court for a definitive interpretation of the matter, which could take a very long time.

This sudden turn of events has fanned the fears of the Kanai family that there are influential persons trying to maneuver or bury the case. The change of tenor of the RTC was surprising, and now, there can be no restraint to Abejuela’s leaving the country, which could delay the case indefinitely. Kenji’s mother, Susan, was beyond grief and anger when they left the courtroom.

The following day, the Kanais met with Yukihisa Nakano, First Secretary/Consul, and Shuheiu Ogawa, Second Secretary and spokesman for the Japanese embassy. Both had been monitoring the case, and expressed grave concern that Kanai, who was also a Japanese citizen, will be a victim of injustice.

Both officials mentioned that, should any more unusual circumstances prevail (as they did when the case was first brought to the police), they may be forced to write to the Department of Foreign Affairs to ask for assistance.

The case has already become a big story in Japan, what with the sudden replacement of Superintendent Hermenigildo Valdez and P02 Renato Sunga a mere two days after they mishandled the initial investigation. The Kanais are filing separate charges against the two erring cops.

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On another legal matter, here is the story of a complaint filed by Carljoe Javier, who reviews sports video games for Gamesmaster magazine and writes amusing and incisive commentary for newspapers and magazines.

The Javier family found a suitable apartment in Quezon City to move into a few weeks ago, signed a contract and paid the deposit for the unit. However, soon after, the landlord sent them an eviction notice, simply because he had other plans for the unit. That was when a series of bizarre events took place.

When the Javier family filed a case with the local barangay officials, the landlord threw a fit, going to their unit and throwing things around. The barangay officials were summoned, intervened, and set a date for a hearing. The landlord never appeared.

The day after, a Saturday, Carl arrived home from a despedida only to be informed that his father was in the hospital. Their kitchen was strewn with debris and blood spatters, like a scene out of CSI. The landlord, apparently drunk, attacked the senior Javier, trying to hit him with a stove, grazing him in the head. Naturally, the elder Javier retaliated. As the fighting continued, Javier’s younger sister ran out to call the barangay tanods, who said they couldn’t be bothered by leaving their posts. Their mother received the same response. Finally, cousins arrived to break up the altercation. It was only when they threatened to beat up the landlord did the barangay officials step in.

The following morning, the landlord sneaked into one of the bathrooms, defecated, and scattered the excrement. He followed this up by throwing all the Javiers’ toiletries, urinating on them. The victims also reported this to the barangay officials, who did nothing.

And it did not end there. A few days later, while Carl’s sister was using the bathroom, the landlord returned, attempting to drill through the lock on the door. The father once again tried to convince the landlord to leave, but the landlord tore the door off its hinges and demolished the toilet.

Fearing for their safety, the Javiers called on relatives who were policemen, who finally put an end to the nonsense. The barangay officials – who should be investigated - sided with the landlord, who attempted an illegal eviction, damaged property, and assaulted his own tenants. A parade of relatives filed in to make sure they were okay, but they had had enough, and finally left the scene of their trauma for a smaller, safer house, away from the landlord from hell.