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Friday, March 23, 2007
High Court resets debate on Ocampo's plea
MANILA -- The Supreme Court (SC) has prevailed upon the Philippine National Police (PNP) to junk its plans to bring detained Bayan Muna party-list Representative Satur Ocampo to Leyte until further notice from the court.
In a resolution reached following a special en banc session Thursday, the High Court also moved to grant Ocampo's handwritten request to attend the oral argument, which has been moved to March 30.
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The High Court likewise granted the motion of the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) seeking an extension of time in filing its comment on Ocampo's petition assailing his arrest and incarceration in connection with the multiple murder charges lodged against him before the Leyte Regional Trial Court.
Ocampo was among those tagged by the military as the mastermind behind the purging of suspected spies of the government in the Communist Party of the Philippines following the discovery of mass graves of 15 people who were allegedly summarily executed in Inopacan, Leyte between 1985 and 1991.
The court gave the OSG until 12 noon of March 28 to file its comment on Ocampo's petition.
It also cancelled the oral arguments earlier set on March 27 and moved it to March 30 at 1 p.m.
Solicitor General Agnes Devanadera, representing the Department of Justice, had filed a motion asking asked the SC to be given an extension of 15 days or until April 5 to file its comment.
Devanadera said the five-day period given by the court for the OSG to submit its reply to the petition was not enough since the suit raised several factual matters that will require verification from and coordination with other government offices to ascertain their veracity.
"These government offices are located in different places in the country, hence, the difficulty of immediately securing the needed information to enable the respondents to respond intelligently to the petition. Under the circumstances, respondents are constrained to request for further time within which to submit their required comment," said Devanadera.
Ocampo, however, said he is not too happy with the court's decision to grant the OSG's motion to extend the period of filing its comment on his petition.
He said the SC should have ruled once and for all if his arrest was legal or not.
He claimed that the murder charges against him were trumped-up as part of a crackdown on left-wing activists.
Ocampo in his letter request to the SC, asked for a change of venue for the trial of the murder charges against him, fearing that he might not get a fair chance before the Leyte court.
Neri Colmenares, lawyer of Ocampo, said while they welcome the SC's order for the solon to remain at the Manila police headquarters, his client should not suffer continuing detention because of government's inability to argue his case.
Meanwhile, Ocampo brought to the attention of the United Nations the continued harassment caused by the Arroyo Government through the PNP and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Ocampo, while under the custody of the Western Police District, has asked Martin Scheinin, the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism, to look into the Arroyo Government's human rights abuses.
He said while the government has yet to implement the newly-signed anti-terror law or the Human Security Act of the Philippines on July, government authorities have already disregarded the observance of due process in cases against government critics tagged as "enemies of the state".
"A clear example is how the government has treated the undersigned, Ocampo, Deputy Minority Leader of the House of Representatives and President of Bayan Muna (People First Party), who has been charged with the crime of multiple murders that allegedly occurred in 1984-1985," Ocampo said in his letter-complaint to the UN Rapporteur.
The congressman detailed how he was arrested by police authorities on March 16 after he filed a petition for certiorari and prohibition seeking to nullify the multiple murder cases filed against him and the warrant of arrest issued against him by Abando.
He also told the UN Rapporteur that he and his lawyers had assured the police authorities that there is no need to arrest him since he had publicly stated he would be facing the charges and would not evade arrest. He asked though that he be given a time to prepare his legal moves. (Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Davao. (March 23, 2007 issue)
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