The Batasan 5 was
able to get a favorable ruling when the Makati regional trial court
suspended Aug. 22 proceedings of the rebellion case filed against them.
Makati RTC Branch 150
Judge Elmo Alameda suspended all proceedings against Bayan Muna
representatives Satur Ocampo, Teodoro Casiño and Joel Virador; Anakpawis
Rep. Rafael Mariano; and Gabriela Rep. Liza Maza pending resolution by the
Supreme Court of their petition for certiorari with prohibition pertaining
to the preliminary investigation conducted by the Department of Justice.
In a five-page
ruling, Alameda said "cannot just play into the hands of the prosecution
and act with grave abuse. It behooves this court to keep its hands off on
the pending petition and defer to the better judgment of the Honorable
Supreme Court whether or not to grant the petition having a direct bearing
on Criminal Case 06-944."
"This (ruling) puts a stop to all moves by the Arroyo
administration to short-circuit the judicial process in order to jail and
silence us as part of the political persecution against the Left and all
government critics," said Ocampo.
Through a status quo
order on June 5, the high court barred the DoJ from proceeding with the
preliminary investigation even if the justice department had already
conducted a preliminary inquiry in March and filed the rebellion case
against the five partylist lawmakers.
"As correctly pointed
out by the accused/movants, if the Supreme Court declares the preliminary
investigation by the Panel of investigating State prosecutors null and
void, it follows that the filing of the
instant case and all proceedings taken therein are also null and void,"
Alameda added.
Meanwhile, a court decision is still pending on Anakpawis Rep. Crispin
Beltran’s motion for reconsideration of the
finding of probable cause in May on the rebellion case filed against him
and 1Lt. Lawrence San Juan.
"We hope that the
court will hear Ka Bel's plea for justice and that the good judge will
find more than sufficient basis to set aside the previous magistrate's
decision as an important step to secure his freedom from arbitrary
detention," said Ocampo.
Beltran, confined at the Philippine Heart Center, will mark his sixth
month under the custody of the Philippine National Police on August 25.
Bulatlat
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