Satur not in hiding, to challenge arrest

Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo denied yesterday that he is hiding from the law, although his lawyer told reporters that his client would be "inaccessible" for a few days until he has challenged before the Supreme Court the warrant for his arrest.

Speaking to selected members of media, Ocampo said: "I am not hiding, but I will not allow myself to simply be picked up,"

Ocampo decried the "apparent railroading of justice" in his case, and chided the administration’s disregard of his right to due process.

"I am not avoiding the case, I will face up to it, but I just want fair play," he said.

Ocampo’s lawyer, Romeo Capulong, said yesterday Judge Ephraim Abando of the Regional Trial Court of Leyte could have found more than sufficient ground to dismiss the case against Ocampo.

"The warrant of arrest issued against Bayan Muna Representative Satur C. Ocampo without bail is a gross miscarriage of justice," he said.

"If only either the prosecutor or the judge studied the records very well, and if only either of them acted impartially, this case should have been dismissed outright."

Capulong said it was "a totally baseless charge" as the military had "fabricated" the evidence against Ocampo which had been presented in court.

"The case rests solely on the testimonies of the alleged perpetrators of the crime who are now working for the military," he said. "The alleged crime committed, consisting of 15 counts of murder, allegedly took place more than 20 years ago."

Ocampo said that they are considering filing a complaint against the judge and prosecutors for lack of jurisdiction over the case since the case is already over 20 years old.

"I already saw this coming since August (last year) when (AFP Chief of Staff Hermogenes) Esperon went to Inopacan, Leyte, where they supposedly discovered the bodies in an alleged mass grave of victims of an alleged communist purge," he said.

"I wanted to laugh about this, but this is a serious matter. This government runs over the rights of the people, and it shows that it is vindictive against those who oppose it. They have violated my right to due process."

Ocampo said it was better during the Marcos regime because he was able to stand trial for rebellion for seven years, and that the military courts had to follow the Constitution.

"I don’t feel that I am being compelled to go back to the mountains because of this, as I don’t interpret it that way, but I think this is to prevent us from campaigning and to destroy the progressive groups," he said.

Capulong said the allegations in the rebellion charge "cannot be the subject of a separate case" against Ocampo.

"Under the rules of evidence and rules of the Supreme Court, confessions of an alleged perpetrator are inadmissible evidence against a co-respondent or co-accused," he said.

Capulong said the public prosecutor filed the case without even furnishing a copy of his resolution to Ocampo or any of his co-accused.

"(It clearly) is indicative of a railroaded case," he said. "(The judge) did not do his duty but merely followed the position of the public prosecution," he said.

Capulong said corpus delicti or the fact of the commission of the crime has not been shown by the complainant.

"The complaint filed suffers from a fatal defect for failure to comply with the mandatory requirements of the Court," he said. "(Any of the grounds he pointed out) is sufficient basis for the dismissal of the case."

No DNA-testing was ever made to determine the identities of the skeletal remains purportedly found by the military in a mass grave in Inopacan, he added.

Next week, they will file a petition for prohibition and mandamus against Gonzales, Abando, and provincial prosecutor Rosulo Vivero; and a complaint of grave abuse of discretion against the judge and state prosecutors with the Supreme Court, Capulong said.

Judge Abando has ordered the arrest of Ocampo and several communist rebel leaders in connection with the discovery of a mass grave of victims of an alleged New People’s Army purge in Inopacan town in Leyte in the 1980s.

Ocampo, along with Representatives Teodoro Casiño and Joel Virador of Bayan Muna, Liza Maza of Gabriela, and Crispin Beltran of Anakpawis are facing rebellion charges in a Makati court.

The 74-year-old Beltran has been in detention now for more than a year.

Philippine National Police chief Director General Oscar Calderon advised Ocampo yesterday to yield "in the interest of justice and human rights."

On orders of Calderon, all PNP units have been furnished a copy of the arrest order issued by Judge Ephrem Abando against Ocampo and 53 other communist rebel leaders.

Chief Superintendent Samuel Pagdilao, PNP spokesman, denied Ocampo’s allegation that "there is political color " in the issuance of the warrant of arrest since Bayan Muna will again seek seats in the House of Representative in the May 14 elections.

"The judicial branch is independent and it’s not expected that judicial authorities will bow to our whims and caprices," Pagdilao said.

"We want to assure that this is part of the function to enforce an order from judicial authorities. Our justice system assures the accused of their day in court, unlike their alleged victims who were summarily butchered without the benefit of a fair trial."

Pagdilao said Ocampo cannot yet be considered a fugitive, although "he is acting like a fugitive."

"There is a process, like we have to be able to serve the warrant to his place," he said.

Pagdilao said Ocampo could not invoke his immunity as a lawmaker to avoid prosecution.

"We all know that the immunity accorded by our Constitution to lawmakers does not extend to cases like this, so immunity will not be applicable in this case," he said. — With Jess Diaz, Cecille Suerte Felipe