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Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Rob suspect to file charges against Cebu police
By Michael F. Sarcauga
PAGADIAN CITY -- The family of Earl Allen Mondarte, who is being implicated in the Aspac Bank robbery in Tabogon town in Cebu Province, will file criminal, administrative and civil charges against the police for alleged warrantless arrest and illegal detention, a legal counsel of the Mondarte family said Monday during a press conference here.
Gloria Lastimosa-Dalawampo, counsel for the Mondarte family, said the Cebu provincial police have wrongfully accused Mondarte, a graduating college student at the University of San Carlos. Mondarte, 22, hails from a prominent family here in Pagadian.
At around noon of November 16, the Aspac Bank of Tabogon town was robbed by three unidentified suspects who took the bank's money worth P489,636.63. The three suspects fled using a single motorcycle as their getaway vehicle.
Hours later, members of the San Remegio town police apprehended Mondarte and his uncle Jose Roy Quemada, 33, at a checkpoint. The police confiscated P20,900 cash from the pockets of Mondarte and P104,568.09 worth of checks in the car.
But Lawyer Dalawampo said the checks that the San Remegio policemen found in the car driven by Mondarte and Quemada were planted.
The counsel said they have witnesses who can attest that the policemen who searched the car found nothing when they first conducted a search on the vehicle after intercepting it at a checkpoint.
She added that policemen even allowed Quemada to proceed to San Remegio town to transact business.
Dalawampo said it was a provincial police intelligence officer, she identified only as Major Engera, who allegedly insisted that Quemada be apprehended, because he was a suspect in the Aspac bank robbery. Cebu police tagged Quemada as a member of the Limotan robbery gang.
She said the police then chased Quemada and he was brought back to the San Remegio police station, where another search was done on the car.
Dalawampo said it was during the second search that the police allegedly planted the evidence against Mondarte and Quemada. She said the second search yielded a box that contained checks allegedly looted from the bank's vault.
The counsel said there was no sufficient evidence to show the two were the ones who robbed the bank as no bank employee positively identified them when they were presented to the media in Cebu City.
She said the police planted the checks "because they (police) were desperate to solve the series of bank robberies in Cebu."
She said the police illegally arrested the two because they were not caught red-handed, an element that may allow arrest of suspects without a benefit of a warrant. "They merely presented the evidence of checks, which is evidently planted during the second search," Dalawampo told Pagadian reporters.
"A robber does not carry checks, which could not possibly be cashed in a bank," she said.
She also said that if they were really robbers, "why were they not carrying firearms?"
The lawyer explained that Mondarte was invited to an advance birthday treat by his uncle, Quemada, in one of the beach resorts in northern Cebu. Mondarte celebrated his birthday in jail last November 19.
Dalawampo said they will file an arbitrary detention case against the police for detaining Mondarte for more than 36 hours. "They file the case against my client beyond the 36 hours limit and they should be held liable for that," the counsel said.
Ernesto Mondarte, father of the complainant and Provincial Board member of Zamboanga del Sur, said his son suffered permanent emotional trauma brought about by recklessness of the police who desperately want to solve the series of robbery cases in Cebu.
He said his son was a "fall guy" and the police should go after the real suspects.
He said his family will file administrative and civil cases in addition to the criminal charges they are planning to file against the police who "wrongfully detained and arrested" his son.
"I am a public servant and I am known for my anti-crime campaigns in our province, and it has stained my reputation. But I am willing to pursue the case to prove that my son is innocent and clear the name of my family," the elder Modarte told reporters.
He declined to comment about Quemada. The father maintained his son is innocent. Quemada has six standing warrants of arrest in Pagadian, all involving swindling cases. (Star Zamboanga/Sunnex)
(November 23, 2005 issue)
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