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Thursday, August 10, 2006
Tomas notes irregularities in CIDG raids
By Linette C. Ramos Sun.Star Staff Reporter
With Malou Inocando-Tabar
Although he did not defend Cebu City Councilor Gerardo Carillo, Mayor Tomas Osmeña yesterday raised “irregularities” in the way police conducted a raid and arrested retailers of a whitening cream last Friday.
Osmeña said that despite the controversy hounding Carillo, he will encourage Cebu City officials to respond to calls for help from their constituents, because it is their responsibility to do so.
“I will not take the position that they should not respond. When somebody calls for assistance, when you’re an elected official, you should respond. That’s what elected officials are for,” he told reporters yesterday.
Osmeña said he already heard the side of Carillo, but he welcomed the fact-finding inquiry the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas will make.
The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Cebu City Chapter is stepping into the controversy.
Chapter president Alex Tolentino said he will bring up in today’s IBP board meeting the alleged intervention by Councilor Gerardo Carillo, in the arrest of his clients.
Tolentino wants to create a seven-member panel to study the case.
Lambasted
“Carillo is a member of the IBP and has been lambasted on the radio because of this, so we want to find out the truth and if there are lapses. We want to determine the parameters of interference and the legality of his presence,” he added.
Aside from the allegations of intervention, Tolentino also wants to determine the parameters of an arrested person’s right to counsel.
“Is there a prohibition on lawyers? Is a lawyer prohibited from asking questions? Is there a law prohibiting his presence during the raid? We will look more into the legality of his presence when it is required by his client,” Tolentino said.
During last Friday’s raid, Carillo allegedly called up the police and offered to escort three owners of Yu Lian Marketing to the CIDG headquarters, so they wouldn’t have to be arrested. The owners were identified as Key Jinky, Ben Dy and John Sanchez.
By Monday, only Sanchez was brought to the CIDG office.
Osmeña said, though, that apart from Carillo, the operatives of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) should also be investigated to find out what really happened during the raid.
Other people
“There were several places raided at the same time, so what happened to the other people? Did CIDG make money out of the others? I don’t know, but this one called Carillo because they were not willing to give... We know for a fact that all line agencies are corrupt, that’s a given. I’m not accusing CIDG, but they’re all bunched up in the same system,” he said.
The mayor said that even if Carillo is proven to have intervened in the operation, he will still have city officials protect their constituents from the harassment of line agencies.
He wondered why owners of the other establishments that were raided were not arrested. The mayor also said CIDG raided the wrong places and arrested the retailers without a warrant of arrest.
Carillo has asked the same questions.
Believing that his clients were singled out during the operation, the councilor will file today a motion to quash the search warrant that was used against the retailers of the fake whitening cream.
“I’m just wondering aloud, why were my clients being singled out? My question is, there were six stores raided. Surprisingly, there was no one else arrested and sued except my clients,” he said in a phone interview.
Carillo said he welcomes the anti-graft office’s investigation, so the public may know what really happened and so he can clear his name.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (August 10, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
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