News Roundup 14 June 2022
Jun 14, 2022 • 4 min Read
De Lima cases review gives ‘glimmer of hope’ for senator – lawyer | INQUIRER.NET – The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) review of drug cases filed against Senator Leila de Lima is offering a “glimmer of hope” for the detained opposition legislator. Lawyer Romulo Macalinatal said this Tuesday as outgoing DOJ Secretary Menardo Guevarra had committed to reassessing the weight of the pieces of evidence against de Lima after a number of witnesses recanted their testimonies linking the senator to the illegal drug trade. Macalintal also noted a similar willingness of incoming DOJ chief Crispin Remulla to review de Lima’s cases. According to the veteran election lawyer, Guevarra’s move simply obeys an “elementary rule in criminal cases” while Remulla’s impending action fuels hope for de Lima’s “long struggle and quest for justice.” “The prosecution must rely on the strength of its own evidence, and not depend on its success upon the weakness of the evidence of the accused. For it is the prosecution’s burden to prove the guilt of the accused beyond a reasonable doubt, not for the accused to prove his innocence,” explained Macalintal, a counsel for Vice President Leni Robredo. Robredo visited de Lima last week at the Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City, where the senator is being detained since February 2017.
Lookout Bulletin Order issued vs SUV driver that ran over a security guard | INQUIRER.NET – Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra has placed the owner of the Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) that ran over a security guard in Mandaluyong under the government’s Immigration Lookout Bulletin Order (ILBO). “The DOJ has issued the ILBO at noon today,” Guevarra told reporters. An ILBO is different from a court-issued hold departure order (HDO) since the former only directs the Bureau of Immigration to be on the lookout for the subject and to verify the status of a case against the subject person and not to restrict an individual from leaving the country. Guevarra issued the ILBO upon the request of the Mandaluyong police last Monday. The Mandaluyong Police made the request for an ILBO against Jose Antonio Sanvicente, the supposed owner of the Toyota RAV4 with plane number NCO 3781. The incident was caught in a now viral dashcam video. However, as for the Precautionary Hold Departure Order (PHDO) against Sanvicente, Prosecutor General Benedicto Malcontento said a request has yet to be made. “Complainant (police or representative of the complainant) should initiate that [PHDO]. We are waiting for these procedural requirements. A PHDO is a written order issued by a court directing the Bureau of Immigration (BI) to prevent a person suspected of a crime from leaving the country. To date, there is already a complaint for frustrated murder and abandonment of one’s victim under Article 275 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC) against Sanvicente for running over 31-year-old security guard Christian Floralde, who was directing traffic at an intersection near a shopping mall in Mandaluyong City last June 5.
CHR to probe alleged rights violations in arrest of farmers, activists in Tarlac | PHILSTAR.COM – The Commission on Human Rights said Tuesday it is investigating the arrest and detention of around 90 farmers, peasant advocates and media workers at a land cultivation activity on agrarian reform program land in Tarlac. Last week, police arrested farmers and their supporters as well as members of the press covering the ‘bungkalan’ —collective tilling of the land— activity at Hacienda Tinang in Concepcion, Tarlac. They were charged with malicious mischief and illegal assembly. In a statement, CHR executive director Jacqueline de Guia said there were also allegations of physical and mental abuse, inhumane conditions at the detention facility, and red-tagging experienced by those arrested and detained. Red-tagging refers to labeling activists and advocates as members of the Communist Party of the Philippines and New People’s Army and equating activism with terrorism. De Guia said that the commission’s Central Luzon office has started gathering information from arrested farmers and their supporters, farmers who filed a complaint over the arrests, and the local police. CHR investigators from the central office will also be joining the probe “given the extent and complexity of the issue at hand.” “CHR commits to look into every aspect of the allegations of human rights violations linked to the said incident,” de Guia said.
