PNP chief cites Makati cops who detained lawyers

DRUG HAUL A raid conducted on the Makati bar on Aug. 11 allegedly led to the seizure of ecstasy, cocaine and kush. —GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

Though widely criticized by lawyers’ groups and human rights advocates, the Makati City policemen who detained three lawyers for allegedly interfering in their search for drugs at a bar were cited on Monday by the Philippine National Police chief himself.

Among the 27 policemen who received the Medalya ng Kagalingan from PNP Director General Oscar Albayalde at a ceremony in Camp Crame were Senior Supt. Rogelio Simon, Makati police chief, and Insp. Jeson Vigilla, the head of the Station Drug Enforcement Unit that raided Time in Manila bar on Makati Avenue on Aug. 11.

Vigilla ordered the arrest of lawyers Lenie Rocel Rocha, Jan Vincent Sambrano and Romulo Bernardo Alarkon for allegedly intimidating policemen who were searching for other drugs reportedly concealed in the bar’s safety deposit boxes during a follow-up operation on Aug. 16.

In an interview after the awarding ceremony, Vigilla said he was thankful to PNP officials, saying the award vindicated him and his men.

“Our higher-ups from the PNP know that we are just performing our duty. If we had lapses in the conduct of operations, they [would have been the] first [to] castigate us,” he told the Inquirer.

Albayalde said the PNP would provide “better lawyers” for the policemen who had a “good reason” to arrest the lawyers.

Multiple charges

The Makati police had charged the three lawyers with constructive possession of illegal drugs, as well as obstruction of justice, resistance and disobedience to persons of authorities, and violation of a city ordinance against civilians crossing a police line.

After being detained for more than 24 hours, the lawyers were ordered released by the Makati City prosecutor who set the preliminary investigation on Aug. 28.

Critics called the drug charge against the lawyers outrageous, claiming it was added by the police so that they could not be cited for illegal arrest. They noted that the lawyers should have been detained for only 18 hours because they were arrested without a warrant.

Diane Desierto, the senior partner of Desierto and Desierto law firm where the accused were employed, did not comment on the charges filed by Makati police, citing the sub judice rule.

“Whatever we say on this matter will be said to the courts, which is the proper forum, and not in the voicelessness of illegal arbitrary detention,” she said.

Desierto added that her firm no longer represented Time bar owner Burton Joseph Server III.

She also said they would “take appropriate legal actions and avail of the proper process” against those who defamed the three lawyers.

According to her, the three are “still in recovery, still in fear for their lives, and our first duties are to help them recover and regain peace and safety as best as we can, while we pursue constitutional measures of justice under the rule of law.”

Desierto said the firm’s personnel would set aside their “personal reactions of moral outrage” to act as the trio’s “human rights lawyers,” instead of “human rights advocates taking it to the streets.”

First step

“We recognize that the first step [in] restoring faith in our courts and our judicial system is to let the system work,” she added.

For his part, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque sided with the Makati police.

“If you ask me as a law professor, those three lawyers need a refresher course on criminal procedure,” Roque told reporters on Monday, adding that they should not have been inside the bar during the police search.

“What business did they have being in the area, being where the search warrant was being served, without identifying who their client was. That’s ridiculous,” he added.

Roque said the lawyers involved were young and hoped the police would show patience for their being “overzealous” in performing their job. —WITH REPORTS FROM CHRISTINE O. AVENDAÑO AND JAYMEE T. GAMIL