|
Friday, May 16, 2003
Kishi couple freed; doc moves assailed
CEBU -- Japanese national Daisuke Kishi and his Filipino wife Loreta were ordered released Thursday, even as a local official questioned the cremation of the couple’s baby without the police or the court’s permission.
Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Ramon Codilla Jr. ordered their release a week after they were detained for allegedly causing the death of their 51-day-old baby boy.
Cebu City Police Office Crime Laboratory Chief Jesus Cerna might be investigated for ordering the immediate cremation of the infant’s body, reportedly without informing the police or getting court permission.
City Councilor Gerardo Carillo, a lawyer, also questioned Cerna’s issuance of a death certificate indicating that the child died of bronchopneumonia.
He said Cerna did not mention the boy’s fractured skull, lacerated wounds in the cheek, contusions in his face and the fracture in his right leg.
“Why does he want to destroy evidence? He should be investigated by the PNP or the PRC (Professional Regulations Commission),” said Carillo, who was asked by the Department of Social Welfare and Department to monitor the case.
The City Prosecutor’s Office filed parricide charges against the Kishi couple after Dr. Nora Redulla, the baby’s pediatrician, reported to the police the infant’s injuries.
“It was good that Dr. (Nestor) Sator conducted an autopsy. Besides, there are a lot of bothering questions surrounding the case such as the couple’s plan to immediately leave for Japan,” he said.
But leaving the country may be the last thing on their minds.
The couple, who will be placed in the custody of their lawyers, Vicente Fernandez and Danilo Sinugbuhan, were ordered to surrender their passports to the court to prevent them from leaving the country.
Judge Codilla of RTC Branch 19 also made them promise to appear whenever summoned by the court.
The judge was persuaded by Fernandez’s arguments that the arrest was illegal, as it was not covered by an arrest warrant.
The decision, the one-page ruling read, was to “sustain the right of the detainees not to be restrained of their liberty.”
But their liberty may be short-lived as Assistant Cebu City Prosecutor Fernado Gubalane rushed to file the parricide charge against the couple.
It was argued in Thursday’s hearing that there was still no proof that Diether Lorence Kishi’s death was criminal in nature. And even if it were, there is no proof that his parents did it.
Fernandez said the arrest was mainly due to the intervention of the “wife of a high local official,” who reportedly accompanied Dr. Redulla in seeking police assistance.
Redulla had learned the child would be cremated even though she had demanded a full autopsy.
The doctor had suspected something was amiss after noting injuries in the baby’s face.
When she ordered an X-ray examination, it was established that the young Kishi had a fractured skull.
Earlier, Loreta reportedly blamed her husband for the fracture. She said Daisuke dropped Diether on the floor while giving him a bath.
Daisuke, 24, and Loreta, 26, were arrested on May 8 while attending to their son’s wake. GAN/GAC/Sun.Star Cebu
(May 16, 2003 issue)
Want Sun.Star news on your mobile phone? Click here.
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here. |
|
|
|
 |
| click
to comment on this article or discuss it with other readers |
[return to top]
[home]
|
|
RP out of WHO Sars list May 20: health dep't