IBP clears Carillo from irregularity

The Integrated Bar of the Philippines found no irregularity in the acts of City Councilor Gerardo Carillo in protecting the rights of his client during the police operation Friday last week.

After more than an hour of investigation, the IBP panel concluded that Carillo did not use his influence as city official to save his client from being arrested during a raid by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group on an establishment that allegedly sold fake beauty cream products.

IBP-Cebu City chapter president Alex Tolentino, who also chairs the panel probing the matter, said that after hearing from Carillo and CIDG regional director Jose Jorge Corpuz in a 20-minute closed-door investigation, they were convinced that Carillo did not intervene in the raid.

Tolentino said that the councilor did not use his influence because he did not even introduce himself as a public official when he went to the area that was raided by the CIDG.

According to Tolentino, it would have been a different scenario had there been an arrest made and Carillo refused to turn over his clients to the police. The CIDG was earlier reported to have complained that Carillo took custody of his clients and promised to turn them over to the CIDG office.

However, instead of bringing the three persons the CIDG found inside the Yu Lian Marketing, one of the seven stores raided for allegedly selling the fake beauty products, Carillo only turned over one.

But Tolentino said there was nothing irregular with Carillo's acts because the persons were not arrested. Tolentino said Corpuz admitted that there was no arrest made during the operation.

He said the people who have been earlier reported arrested were just actually invited by CIDG for investigation, stressing that anybody has the right to refuse to an invitation for investigation.

Nevertheless, Tolentino said Carillo's case served as an eye-opener to them and the law enforcers. He said the IBP plans to hold talks with the CIDG and other law enforcement agencies to prevent such occurrence in the future.

Tolentino said they also plan to forge a memorandum of agreement with the law enforcers on the implementation of search warrants to prevent any untoward incidents in the future.

After the meeting yesterday, the IBP terminated its fact-finding inquiry with Carillo and CIDG coming up with an agreement not to file cases against each other.

Carillo welcomed the result of the investigation, saying that it really served its purpose. "We now understand our boundaries."

CIDG legal counsel Inosencio de la Cerna also thanked the IBP for taking time to thresh out the issue.

Carillo said he would file a motion to quash the search warrant against his client, questioning why only his client has been charged when there were about seven establishments raided.

Carillo however gave the CIDG the benefit of the doubt and refused to think that he has been personalized by the law enforcement agency. - Fred P. Languido