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

© 2006 Bulatlat ■  Alipato Media Center

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