News Roundup 09 September 2022
Sep 09, 2022 • 6 min Read
Panel raps 4 over sugar mess; Hontiveros sees ‘fall guys’ | INQUIRER.NET – After conducting three hearings, the Senate blue ribbon committee on Thursday recommended the filing of criminal and administrative charges against President Marcos’ former chief of staff in the Department of Agriculture (DA) and three resigned officials of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) Board for issuing an order to import 300,000 tons of sugar supposedly without authority from Malacañang. In its committee report, the Senate panel asked the Ombudsman to file graft charges against Agriculture Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian, former SRA Administrator Hermenegildo Serafica, and board members Roland Beltran and Aurelio Valderrama Jr. for alleged corrupt practices, violation of Republic Act No. 10845, or the anti-agricultural smuggling law, and usurpation of authority. Signed by 14 senators with opposition Sen. Risa Hontiveros as the sole dissenter, the committee report said the four officials were found to have committed acts of “serious dishonesty, grave misconduct, gross neglect of duty, conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service, and gross insubordination under the revised rules on administrative cases in the civil service.” Committee chair Sen. Francis Tolentino, however, declined to disclose who among the 20 members voted in favor of the committee report. The report wraps up the hearings of the Senate committee on good government and public accountability on the fiasco whipped up by the unauthorized issuance a month ago of Sugar Order No. 4, which sought to import 300,000 tons of sugar. Sebastian has been placed under preventive suspension as the DA secretary’s chief of staff, while Serafica, Beltran and Valderrama have since resigned. The minority bloc, however, expressed disagreement with the committee report. Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III said they would issue a separate minority report on the investigation, as he expressed compassion for Sebastian and the three former SRA officials. “These are the basic facts: there were people who were persistently asking for approval or a decision or feedback, and they request for info or advice or decision, and they were purposely not replied to, and now you want them to go to jail?” he said. “I believe we should be more forgiving this time because what we saw in the hearings is the miscommunication or lack of communication (between Malacañang and the SRA),” Pimentel added. Hontiveros expressed concern that the committee report made the four current and former officials as mere “fall guys” when their action was overturned by Mr. Marcos.
Rights lawyers move to dismiss case vs Baby River’s mom, 2 other activists | INQUIRER.NET – Three activists, including Reina Mae Nasino whose baby died while she was in detention, have asked the Manila court to dismiss the illegal possession of firearms and explosives case against them after the Court of Appeals nullified the search warrant issued that led to their arrest. In a three-page joint manifestation with motion, Nasino, Alma Moran, and Ram Carlo Bautista, through the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) told the Manila Regional Trial Court that the case against them could no longer push through because the evidence gathered using the void search warrant are already inadmissible. “With the assailed search warrants already declared null and void, no valid legal process could have warranted the invasion of the searched premises, where the movants were arrested. Hence, any evidence allegedly seized therefrom can no longer be used for any purpose in any proceeding, including the instance cases,” read the motion. The Manila RTC Branch 20, in 2020, denied the bid of Nasino and two others to dismiss the case filed against them, citing a defective search warrant. But the Manila court said Quezon City RTC Judge Cecilyn Burgos Villavert, who issued the search warrant, enjoys the presumption of regularity. But the Court of Appeals’12th Division, through Associate Justice Emily San Gaspar-Gito said the search warrants failed to meet the standards of a valid search warrant. Among the errors cited by the Court of Appeals are the multiple addresses of accused Bautista but none of which was correct. The CA added that the search warrant also failed to indicate the particular places to be searched, nor did Villavert conduct searching questions to the police applying for a search warrant. The Court of Appeals also declared void all the pieces of evidence seized using the nullified search warrant. “It would be the height of injustice for movants to continue being tried with evidence that, in law, has been considered fruits of the poisonous tree,” the motion further stated. The search warrants issued by the QC Court led to the arrests of dozens of activists in 2019, including Reina Mae Nasino whose plight resulted in local and international criticism after she gave birth to a daughter in detention. Her daughter succumbed to illness months after she was born following a court’s ruling to separate Baby River from her mother. Human rights group Karapatan said of the 76 arrested individuals based on Villavert’s search warrant, only 22 remained in detention, while two are out on bail. The rest have been freed after the charges against them were dismissed.
Court issues protective writ for two missing labor organizers | PHILSTAR.COM – The Court of Appeals has ordered the military to investigate the case and locate two labor organizers, who have gone missing and are allegedly being kept inside their camp, as it issued a protective writ for the two. The CA issued the privilege of the Writ of Amparo in favor of Elizabeth Magbanua and Alipio Juat, who went missing early in May. It also issued a Permanent Protection Order for the petitioners and their immediate family. The writ of amparo is a protection extended to petitioners when threats to their life, liberty and security emanate from the military, police and other state security forces. It covers extralegal killings and enforced disappearances or threats thereof. The court also said it orders that “without any specific pronouncement on exact authorship and responsibility, declaring the respondents accountable for the enforced disappearance and continued disappearance” of the two activists. Named as respondents are armed forces chief Lt. Gen. Bartolome Bacarro, Department of National Defense Officer-in-Charge Jose Faustino Jr., National Intelligence Coordinating Agency Director General Ricardo de Leon and five military officials. The military officers among the respondents are also directed to conduct a speedy, comprehensive and exhaustive investigation into the continued disappearance of Magbanua and Juat. “Respondents are likewise directed to utilize all technical and modern technological resources at its disposal to assist in locating their whereabouts and once and for all determine the truth behind their continued disappearance,” the CA said. The military are also ordered to submit a detailed report on the results of their action within six months from receipt of the decision. Failure to comply shall constitute contempt of court, the CA added.
