DOJ mulls filing of appeal on release of Michael Ray

MANILA, Philippines - Justice Secretary Leila de Lima disclosed yesterday that the Department of Justice (DOJ) is considering filing an appeal to reverse the order of the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) for the release from detention of former police senior superintendent Michael Ray Aquino, a suspect in the killings of publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito in 2000.

De Lima said she instructed the prosecutors handling the Dacer-Corbito double murder case to look into the option of filing a motion for reconsideration before the trial court or elevating the case to the Court of Appeals (CA).

She admitted that she was surprised by the order handed down by Manila

RTC Branch 18 Judge Carolina Icasiano-Sison last Wednesday emanating from the dismissal of the double murder case against Aquino by the same court last Monday.

“Ordinarily, a release order should be immediately executory. But we will still have to examine the grounds cited in the ruling. I haven’t read the order yet, but we need to determine exactly the basis or the rationale for that order,” she told reporters.

She said this procedural issue on the execution of the order could be raised in the appeal.

De Lima believes Aquino was cleared after the RTC dismissed this year the bid of another accused, former senior superintendent Cezar Mancao II, to become a state witness.

“The court did not accept the testimony of Mancao as well as the move of the prosecution to discharge him as state witness,” she recalled.

Aquino’s lawyer Napoleon Poblador said his client was already cleared of all charges and he is now a free man after being released from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) jail last Wednesday evening.

He said he has yet to personally see his client, but he is in close contact with Aquino, who is now with his family and would talk to the media in the next few days.

“He has no other pending cases. He has been cleared of any involvement. This acquittal by a Manila court is final. It is not just technical so the prosecution can no longer appeal it,” Poblador said.

Poblador said that under the Constitution, an acquittal in a criminal case can longer be appealed because this would amount to double jeopardy.

De Lima likened the case of Aquino to that of Sen. Panfilo Lacson, another accused in the double murder case, who was cleared by the appellate court last year when it reversed the finding of probable cause of the DOJ.

Prosecutor General Claro Arellano, chief of DOJ’s prosecutorial arm, said he would meet with the prosecutors led by Senior Asst. Senior Prosecutor Philip Kimpo to discuss their options.

He said they only received a copy of the order yesterday when Aquino was already released from custody of the NBI on Wednesday night.

In the one-page order, the RTC cited as reason for Aquino’s release its decision last Dec. 17 granting the motion for demurrer to evidence, which sought dismissal of the case due to insufficiency in evidence presented by the prosecution without the need to present the defense. – With Sandy Araneta