Arenas son files raps vs Court of Appeals justice

MANILA, Philippines - A son of socialite Rosemarie “Baby” Arenas has filed a complaint before the Department of Justice (DOJ) against a Court of Appeals justice for ordering the transfer of the alleged mastermind of a multimillion-peso jewelry scam from the National Center for Mental Health (NCMH) to a private hospital.

Christopher Arenas accused CA Associate Justice Normandie Pizarro of violating rules on the issuance of a writ of habeas corpus in ordering Ma. Elena “Marilen” Guisande moved to St. Claire’s Hospital in Makati during a hearing last Dec.3.

“I and the prosecution office of Mandaluyong City were denied due process,” read Arenas’ complaint. “We were not made parties to petition or permitted to participate in the proceedings (for habeas corpus petition).

“Had we been granted our day in court, we would have surely and strongly objected to the confinement at St. Claire’s,” he added.

Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera said if needed, the DOJ would file an administrative case against Pizarro before the Supreme Court.

Arenas’ complainant would be given due course and undergo preliminary investigation, she added.

Arenas said Pizarro’s order is “contradictory, or else, effectively revised, modified and amended the Order dated Sept. 22 of Judge Esteban Tacla Jr. of the Mandaluyong Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 208.

“The latter order decreed the incarceration of the accused if she is found by the NCMH to be ready to stand the rigors of trial,” read the complaint.

Arenas said he is questioning why they were not given a chance to oppose the transfer of Guisande during the CA hearing.

It was a deprivation of their right to due process, he added.

Arenas has also been implicated in the uploading of the internet of the sex videos of cosmetic surgeon Hayden Kho and actresss Katrina Halili.

Guisande is accused of syndicated estafa, a non-bailable offense, and violation of Batas Pambansa Bilang 22 before the Mandaluyong RTC.

Her co-accused are her husband, Antonio Vicente; siblings John So, Maria Melitona Sanches, Joanne Villena; and some of her employees.

Other complainants against Guisande are spouses Michael and Barbara Tolentino, Agnes Huibonhoa and Doris Deborrah Palispis.

In their complaint, the Tolentino couple said Guisande acted as one of their sales agents in the jewelry trade, who was supposed to earn on a commission basis.

On December 2008, they learned that their jewelry, which was supposed to be sold, was being pawned, they added.

The Tolentinos said the postdated checks issued to them by Guisande were either given a stop-payment order or were worthless because the accounts were closed.

They also discovered that one of their other sales agents, Pamela Suanico, was allegedly acting in conspiracy with Guisande after their checks started bouncing.

When confronted, Suanico allegedly confessed to the “fraudulent scheme,” of how she was giving the jewelry she was supposed to sell to Guisande, who pawns the items. They alleged that Guisande made Valerio Lebosana, Maricel Orgaya, Jose Sanchez, and Danilo Daygo pawn the items at different pawnshops.

The Tolentinos said they met with Guisande’s father, David So, who admitted that his daughter and her

“co-conspirators misappropriated our pieces of jewelry by pawning them without our consent and then thereafter, they divided the proceeds of said pawn transactions between themselves.”

The Tolentinos said Guisande’s father offered to settle the “obligation” by offering to give them the pawn tickets so that the jewelry can be redeemed and that he will reimburse the money they would spend.

However, the Tolentinos said So later refused to reimburse what they spent and give them the pawn tickets for the remaining jewelry, for which Guisande had yet to account.

They claimed they lost several pieces of jewelry valued at P10.7 million.

Huibonhoa, honorary consul of Gambia, alleged that Guisande pawned the items she was supposed to sell and again pawned the receipt for more money which she used to pay off her principals or fund her postdated checks “to further induce us to continue transacting with her.”

According to the envoy, she accepted Guisande as a sales agent and delivered pieces of jewelry to the suspect from April to December 2008.

However, the envoy said that last January, she learned that some of the jewelry she entrusted to Guisande were pawned in three different pawnshops – the Rolly Estrella Pawnshop, the L. Raymundo Pawnshop Inc., and the F&T Taymundo Pawnshop Inc. – “without my knowledge and consent.”

Huibonhua said the total value of the pawned items was P15,870,500.

Palispis told the San Juan Prosecutor’s Office she lost P7.3 million in Guisande’s alleged scheme.