Murder charges vs Salas ‘double jeopardy’—lawyer

Former Communist Party of the Philippines chair, Rodolfo Salas alias “Kumander Bilog,” said he remained hopeful in his legal battle to be freed again from detention.

The Supreme Court on Thursday heard Salas’ petition for a habeas corpus in which his lawyers said his constitutional right was violated when he was charged with multiple counts of murder in connection with the discovery of a supposed mass grave in Inopacan, Leyte province.

“I’m optimistic about the fairness of the justices,” Salas told the Inquirer.

Lawyer Arno Sanidad of Free Legal Assistance Group said Salas had fully served a six-year sentence from 1986 to 1992 for rebellion and that had absolved him of all crimes when he headed the New People’s Army between 1976 and 1986.

Bail soughtSanidad invoked the so-called Hernandez-Enrile doctrine of the Supreme Court during the tribunal’s hearing of the petition for Salas to be freed from detention. The doctrine considers common crimes committed under rebellion as already absorbed by the rebellion charge.

Sanidad, who represents Salas, said in an open court that his client deserves to have his liberty restored through a writ of habeas corpus or a grant of bail because the revived murder charges constitute double jeopardy.—TONETTE OREJAS