News Roundup 20 January 2023
Jan 20, 2023 • 4 min Read
Corrections officers file torture complaint vs Bantag | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — Six corrections officers from the Iwahig and Penal Farm in Palawan on Friday filed a torture complaint against suspended Bureau of Corrections chief Gerald Bantag before the Department of Justice.
Aside from Bantag, others named as respondent in the new criminal complaint are former BuCor deputy security officer Supt. Ricardo Zulueta, former BuCor spokesperson Gabriel Chaclag, and jail guards Victor Erick Pascua, Bayani Allaga, Rose Marie Casion, Jayferson Bon-as, Joel Arnol, Kanoy Lattot, Ave Akilit, Edgar Angeles Jr and Michale Marzan.
The respondents were accused of torture, oral defamation, grave threat, grave coercion, and obstruction of justice. No other detail on the complaint filed has been made public as of this story’s posting.
Full Story at: Corrections officers file torture complaint vs Bantag | Philstar.com
Remulla says SC’s Gigi Reyes ruling may apply to De Lima case | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said Friday that the same argument used by lawyer Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes to get released from jail after nearly nine years of detention may possibly apply to the case of former Sen. Leila de Lima.
“The same reasoning may apply to Sen. De Lima’s case,” Remulla said in a text message to reporters.
The Supreme Court’s First Division granted Reyes’ Petition for Habeas Corpus as it held that her right to a speedy trial was violated. Habeas corpus literally translates to “produce the body.” It is an order to present a person before the court to determine if the arrest or imprisonment is legal or if the inmate must be released from custody.
Reyes was the chief of staff of Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile who was accused of plunder in connection with the multi-billion peso pork barrel scam.
The SC however stressed that their grant of habeas corpus “does not adjudge the guilt or innocence of the petitioner.”
Full Story at: Remulla says SC’s Gigi Reyes ruling may apply to De Lima case | Philstar.com
Raffy Tulfo’s ‘kahihiyan’: Empty brain shows in idea to deny help to OFWs facing drug cases | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines—Who would forget the day when the remains of Sally Ordinario-Villanueva, the overseas Filipino worker (OFW) who was executed in Xiamen, China, was brought back to the Philippines to be buried at home?
It was on April 6, 2011 when Villanueva’s mother, Basilisa Ordinario, bent down and cried as the cargo box that carried the remains of her eldest daughter arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Pasay City.
Villanueva, who was only 32 years old when met by death, was one of three OFWs executed in China on March 30, 2011 after being convicted of drug trafficking. The other two were Ramon Credo and Elizabeth Batain.
But on April 18, 2011, Villanueva’s brother, Jayson Ordinario, read his sister’s letter to the Philippine Consulate in China, in which she named her recruiter as the one who gave her a suitcase, which she said appeared to be empty.
As it turned out, however, she was tricked as the suitcase handed to her contained 4,410 grams of heroin—the reason that she was arrested by the Chinese police as she arrived at the Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport on Dec. 24, 2008.
Full Story at: Raffy Tulfo’s ‘kahihiyan’: Empty brain shows in idea to deny help to OFWs facing drug cases | Inquirer News
Gigi Reyes got ‘justice,’ but ex-Sen. Leila de Lima did not – a cruel ‘travesty,’ says Lagman | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — While it is fortunate that “justice” came for lawyer Gigi Reyes, the former chief-of-staff of then-Senate president Juan Ponce Enrile who was temporarily released from detention, an opposition House lawmaker lamented ex-senator Leila de Lima’s continued detention.
In a statement on Friday, Liberal Party president and Albay 1st District Rep. Edcel Lagman said that it is a “cruel travesty of justice” that Reyes was left to stay detained when the primary accused individual — Enrile — was allowed to post bail.
Reyes and Enrile are accused of plunder in the so-called pork barrel scam, where the former Senate president and now Malacañang’s Chief Legal Counsel allegedly received kickbacks amounting to P172.8 million from convicted scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles.
“It is a cruel travesty of justice for a subaltern to suffer continuing detention while the primary accused has been granted liberty much earlier pending criminal prosecution,” Lagman said.
“But what is even more of a charade is the interminable solitary confinement of former Senator Leila de Lima for trumped-up drug charges,” he added.
Full Story at: Gigi Reyes got ‘justice,’ but ex-Sen. Leila de Lima did not – a cruel ‘travesty,’ says Lagman | Inquirer News
