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Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Lawyer in Gotianuy case jailed for contempt
A Manila - based lawyer got detained for almost seven hours in the office of a Regional Trial Court (RTC) judge yesterday, after getting cited in direct contempt.
Lawyer Jesus Delfin, who is in his early 70s, was released to the custody of policemen last night after failing to post the P50,000 bail that RTC Judge Sylvia Paderanga required.
In an interview at the courtroom, Delfin said he was unable to post bail because he had to wait for the written contempt order that was necessary for processing his bail documents.
“I was in her courtroom since morning. And when she finally released the order at 5 p.m., she required me to make a motion for release first,” Delfin said.
“I had to use the office computer. And when I was done, a messenger came to say that the office (of the Clerk of Court) was already closed and that I can no longer post bail,” he narrated.
Police officers from the Fuente PNP Station were summoned to the judge’s courtroom about half past five to take Delfin into custody. They were not in uniform, though.
The lawyer was not brought to the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center (BBRC), however, after he pointed out to Judge Paderanga that it was the delay in the release of the written order that kept him from posting bail.
“Nobody told me. So I took my time. There are a lots of orders to be signed,” Judge Paderanga said during their confrontation.
She subsequently directed him to sign a letter of commitment, stating that he’ll post bail first thing today.
“I don’t care if I am sent to jail because that is merely a change of address. So long as my conscience is clear, I can sleep soundly anywhere,” Delfin told Sun.Star Cebu.
“This is something that I will never forget,” he added, when asked if he intends to question the way he was treated before higher authorities.
Delfin caught Judge Paderanga’s ire when he submitted a motion that sought her inhibition from the libel complaint filed against his client, Elizabeth Gotianuy.
University of Cebu (UC) founder and president Augusto W. Go, a lawyer, filed the complaint after Gotianuy instituted a lawsuit of her own over the ownership of UC.
Gotianuy is the daughter of the late Jose Gotianuy. According to her, it was her father who set up the school.
Central to Go’s libel complaint, which the Office of the Cebu City Prosecutor elevated into a formal criminal case, was the distribution of an unsigned letter depicting him as having taken over the assets of his elder brother, after the latter’s death.
The Department of Justice had reversed the findings of the Office of the Cebu City Prosecutor and ordered it to withdraw the case.
City Prosecutor Nicolas Sellon, in compliance, filed a motion withdrawing the case, but Judge Paderanga did not allow it.
Delfin then filed a motion seeking Paderanga’s inhibition.
In it, he cited incidents when Paderanga, to his mind, showed “despicable bias.”
He attacked points in the complaint and pointed out how a “fair, honest” judge would never tolerate such a “baseless, proof-less, ridiculous and unjust charge in court.” (KNR)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (September 19, 2006 issue)
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