YEARENDER: Celebrities topbill cases in QC (Second of 2 parts)

MANILA, Philippines - Another person who became a household name this year was Robert Blaire Carabuena, a motorist who was videotaped assaulting a Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) traffic enforcer on Aug. 11.

In September, assistant city prosecutor Victorino Badua recommended the filing of direct assault charges against Carabuena and set bail at P12,000. The case stemmed from the complaint filed by the MMDA in behalf of Saturnino Fabros, the constable who kept his cool despite the physical assault. 

Carabuena, who has posted bail, has yet to be arraigned pending the resolution for the motion for reinvestigation he filed before the Metropolitan Trial Court (MTC) Branch 42 Judge Juris Dilinila-Callanta.

Sentosa 25 dolphins

Another case involved animals that were being trained as performers for a marine park in Singapore.

On Oct. 12, animal rights groups sought the court’s intervention to stop the re-export of the 25 bottlenose dolphins from Ocean Adventure in Subic to Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore.

The groups argued that the dolphins – which were imported into the Philippines in 2008, 2009, and 2011 – were unsustainably harvested from the Solomon Islands, claiming that the dolphins’ removal from their natural habitat could damage an entire gene pool.

An initial 72-hour temporary environment protection order was issued by Judge Bernelito Fernandez.

When it expired, however, Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 101 Judge Evangeline Marigomen denied the motion of the petitioners to issue another one, saying the “petitioners have not proved any violation of law committed by the concerned government agencies.”

To the dismay of the animal rights groups, the dolphins were re-exported while the court was hearing the motion for reconsideration that they filed. One of the dolphins died while en route to Singapore.

The groups said the incident was a “brazen disregard” of the judicial system and that they would file charges against those who were responsible for the death of the dolphin.

Twin dismissal of major cases

Also this year, QC courts acquitted two suspects who were tagged in major cases that hit the headlines in the past years.

On Oct. 11, RTC Branch 227 Judge Elvira de Castro-Panganiban acquitted Joseph Tecson on the charges of alleged possession and sale of illegal drugs.

According to Panganiban, the case against Tecson – one of the Alabang Boys arrested in 2008 – was dismissed due to the presence of reasonable doubt. She said the prosecution failed to “present a clear and detailed picture of the incident that transpired before, during and after the arrest of the accused.”

Meanwhile, on Nov. 29, RTC Branch 92 Judge Eleuterio Bathan acquitted Jovel Entote on the kidnapping with homicide charges filed against him.

Entote, tagged as the “godfather” of car theft, was charged in connection with a case that resulted in the death of a van driver Rodolfo Petalino in Quezon City in 2009.

In his decision, Bathan said that the testimonies of witnesses Daniel Quiñanola and Joseph Balbin – who positively identified Entote as the killer – were not “believable and credible to constitute as admissible evidence.”

In another case, Rolando Talban, an alleged member of the Dominguez carjacking syndicate who is accused of killing car dealer Venson Evangelista in January 2011, has pleaded not guilty to the car theft with homicide charges filed against him.

The joint preliminary conference of the cases filed against Talban and his co-accused Raymond and Roger Dominguez is scheduled in January 2013.

Recently, the National Bureau of Investigation also nabbed Joel Jacinto, another suspect tagged in the murder of Evangelista.

Political cases

Several political personalities are also facing charges in some Quezon City courts.

Among them were some members of Ampatuan clan from Mindanao who were tagged in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre which claimed the lives 58 people, including at least 32 media practitioners.

A landmark in the three-year trial this 2012 was the arraignment of former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao governor Zaldy Ampatuan, who pleaded “not guilty” on the multiple murder charges filed against him.

Also facing charges is former President and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who is tagged in the P15-million civil suit filed by some members of the “Morong 43.”

On Nov. 23, RTC Branch 96 Judge Afable Cajigal denied the motion for reconsideration filed by Arroyo, which asked the court to overturn the junking of the motion to dismiss the case filed against the former president.

According to the petitioners, while the former president was not directly involved in their supposed torture, Arroyo should be held accountable since she has knowledge of the incident as she was the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Meanwhile, the arraignment of former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) chairman Manuel Morato on the electioneering charges filed against him was postponed several times this year due to his illness.

Morato is facing four counts of electioneering charges filed by the Commission on Elections before the RTC Branch 87 Judge Aurora Hernandez-Calledo.

The poll body is accusing the former PCSO chair of using his public affairs program “Dial M” on NBN-4 and IBC-13 in 2010 to campaign for then presidential candidate Gilberto Teodoro and his running mate, actor Edu Manzano.

Morato, who claimed that there is no probable cause to file the charges because he was only exercising his right to free speech, is scheduled to be arraigned on Jan. 29, 2013.