Obstruction of justice in Santa Fe?

For our special presentation on our talkshow Straight from the Sky, we bring you issues pertaining to senior citizens, many of whom have certain complaints that need to be addressed. Hence we asked Mr. Domingo Chavez Head of the Office of Senior Citizen's Affairs (OSCA) in Cebu City to be the guest on our show to tell us more about the office that assists our Senior Citizens and indeed it gave me an idea of how things work out for people like me who are already in the senior citizen's list.

So watch this interesting show tonight with Domingo Chavez on SkyCable's channel 53 at 8 p.m. with replays on Wednesday and Saturday same time and channel. We also have replays on MyTV's channel 30 at 9 p.m. Monday and at 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. on Wednesday and Friday.

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Today is the sixth month since I was operated on for my kidney transplant! You can now call me a bit of an armchair expert when it comes to the issues regarding kidney problems. Little do people realize that for two months after my operation, I acquired a "Klebsiella" super bacteria for which I had to take antibiotics through my veins. On the third month it had reduced so much that I could take oral medicines to rid my system of this bacteria.

Last week, I went to visit Dr. Juliet Noel and my medical tests showed that things have returned to normal except for my low potassium levels. At this point, I have regained my original weight of 155 lbs., but I still easily get tired when I attend extended meetings. But as my surgeon Dr. Alvin Roxas told me if you are able to get a kidney transplant (which means getting a matched donor without any other complications) it is far better than getting tied to a dialysis machine every other day and I totally agree with him.

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When I got my Sunday issue of The FREEMAN, I could not help but notice two articles on page 9. One was entitled "Dinagat's most wanted arrested in Santa Fe." He is Pacifico Gelbuena who has been hiding in Sta. Fe, Bantayan since he committed parricide in 2010. The question is who helped Gelbuena hide in Sta. Fe? It is such a small place to hide in. But the bigger question is I thought that Dinagat's most wanted was Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association Supreme Master Ruben Ecleo who is still at large?

The other article that caught my eye was right below the Dinagat article, it was entitled "Mother expresses disappointment over progress of case vs. suspects". Reading that article, I could only sympathize with Josefina de Lima whose son; Gilbert was killed in front of the house of Sta. Fe Mayor Jose Esgana. I learned that Gilbert de Lima used to work with Mayor Jennifer Illustrisimo and three days before the May 10th elections last year, Gilbert had an altercation with Paolo Esgana the son of Mayor Esgana and Pablo Paul Escarlan, his brother-in-law, and when he left the house, he was gunned down! I also gathered that Gilbert was dragged into the house of Mayor Esgana instead of the hospital. 

Now why did provincial prosecutor Pepita Jane Petralba sign and approve the resolution signed by prosecutor Rustom Presas Jr. who indicted Escarlan for the crime of homicide, while dropping the complaint against Joanes Paulo Esgana as an accomplice for the crime of murder for lack of probable cause?

I have a hunch that this is what happens when you use your political connections to get off the hook for your murder crime. How could prosecutor Petralba agreed to dismiss this case vs. Paolo Esgana and downgrade this murder case into a homicide? Am I seeing the political connections with the Liberal Party at work here?

What I would like to know is what does the National Bureau of Investigation think of what the provincial prosecutor has done in downgrading this case of murder the NBI filed against Escarlan and Esgana? Mind you, this is not just a case of murder, but also a case of obstruction of justice, and I believe that the NBI should file against the provincial prosecutor for this is exactly what justice denied is all about!

vsbobita@mozcom.com.

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