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Thursday, September 07, 2006
Soc denies using influence for temporary release of son
Talisay City Mayor Socrates Fernandez yesterday downplayed speculations that he used his influence in the posting of bail of his adopted son for a criminal case.
Since the frustrated murder case filed by jeepney conductor Timoteo Aleo against Joavan Fernandez, 23, is not a capital offense, then his son has the right to post bail, the mayor said.
The PNP released Joavan after he posted P200,000 bail for the frustrated murder case now pending before the Regional Trial Court in Cebu City.
Fernandez cited Section 13, Article 3 of the Bill of Rights of the 1987 Constitution which states that “all persons except those charged with offenses punishable by reclusion perpetua when evidence of guilt is strong, shall before conviction be bailable by sufficient sureties or be released on recognizance as may be provided by law.”
The mayor also defended the local police over allegations that the latter had deliberately delayed the filing of a separate murder case against Joavan to give him enough time to put up bail.
Fernandez believes the Talisay City Police Station, headed by Supt. Romeo Perigo, and the City Prosecutor’s Office merely followed the law on inquest proceedings that mandates the filing of a case in court within 36 hours.
Due process
Otherwise, the police could be charged with arbitrary detention, he said.
Fernandez explained that he provided his son with a lawyer so he could be accorded with the due process of law. The young Fernandez still enjoys the presumption of innocence until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt, he added.
Aside from the frustrated murder case, Joavan also faces a separate murder charge and another frustrated murder case in connection with the two shooting incidents that killed driver Panfilo Barinque and badly wounded Aleo and two other civilians in Barangays Cansojong and Dumlog Tuesday last week.
The wounded Aleo and Edmund Ong, 18, identified Joavan as the gunman who alighted from a gray Toyota Revo and allegedly shot them without any provocation.
Reports surfaced that Joavan allegedly pointed a gun at a tricycle driver in Barangay San Isidro and chided the police to buy new handcuffs in Barangay Tanke.
The reports, however, were proven untrue as these were meant to put Joavan in a bad light, said Ike Durano II, Fernandez’s information officer. (GC)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (September 7, 2006 issue)
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