Politician tagged in Batasan bombing wants arrest warrant quashed

MANILA, Philippines - Former Basilan congressman Gerry Salapuddin, who is facing murder charges for his alleged participation in the 2007 Batasan Pambansa bombing, has asked the Supreme Court (SC) to stop the enforcement of an arrest warrant issued by a Que­zon City court.

“As far as petitioner is concerned, there is no pending criminal case against him before the trial court precisely because he was excluded as an accused,” Salapuddin said in a motion filed by his lawyer, Bonifacio Granada, seeking a temporary restraining order on the enforcement of the warrant issued by Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 83 Judge Ralph Lee.

In issuing the warrant, Lee said the SC has not stopped him from issuing the warrant despite a petition for review pending before the High Court for the past year.

Salapuddin, his former driver Ikram Indama and five others are facing multiple murder and frustrated murder charges before the court. Indama had admitted that he parked a motorcycle carrying the explosives near the exit of the south wing of the House of Representatives in Quezon City before the explosion.

The bombing killed six people, including Salapuddin’s political rival, Basilan Rep. Wahab Akbar, who was perceived to be the main target of the attack, and injured several others.

Lee had issued an arrest warrant in 2008 but this was lifted after the Department of Justice came out with a resolution excluding Salapuddin from the charge sheet. The prosecution brought the case to the Court of Appeals, which reversed the ruling, prompting the defense to elevate the case to the SC.

Salapuddin’s motion before the SC stated: “While it is true that there is an amended information pending before the trial court, petitioner herein is not one of those accused because he had been excluded upon the directive of the Department of Justice and upon order of the trial court.”