Lawyer says Ampuan not a minor: Court cancels bail of suspected ‘Abu’

The Regional Trial Court has cancelled the bail bond of the suspected Abu Sayyaf member caught in possession of explosives inside a Manila-bound ship that made a stop over in Cebu after he failed to appear in court.

RTC judge Rafael Yrastorza ordered the cancellation of the bond of Jaynurin “Noy” Ampuan yesterday for failing to show up despite the court’s condition in granting him bail that he should be present during hearing of his case.

The prosecution also presented proof that Ampuan is no longer a minor contrary to his claim.

Assistant prosecutor Rudolph Carillo showed the court a certified true copy of Ampuan’s birth certificate from the National Statistics Office which shows that he was born on June 15, 1988.

Based on the NSO-certified birth certificate, Ampuan is already 19 years old and not a minor as his parents claimed.

The evidence presented by Carillo and Ampuan’s no show in the scheduled hearing prompted Yrastorza to cancel the P100,000 bail bond and order his arrest.

Carillo said he will file a motion to re-raffle the case to regular courts, because Ampuan is not a minor.

Yrastorza’s sala is a family court, where cases involving minors and other family related cases are being tried.

The court however said that Ampuan will be given five days to comment on the motion once it is formally filed.

In yesterday’s supposed hearing Ampuan did not have any representation because his lawyers in Cebu have earlier withdrawn.

Ampuan said earlier that they could not afford the services of the Cebu based lawyers and that they also have a difficulty in communicating with them because they do not know the dialect of the Muslims.

 Ampuan was intercepted by intelligence agents at the Cebu port sometime in August for carrying improvised explosives.

He was on his way to Manila from Cotabato City.

In Ampuan’s possession were a mortar and rifle grenade placed inside a sack containing bananas and sweet potatoes. He said he was only asked to bring the sack to Manila and that he did not know its contents. –(/NLQ)