A Makati court granted the request of former Batangas Governor Jose Antonio Leviste to undergo a preliminary investigation first before he is arraigned for allegedly evading his prison sentence, effectively deferring his scheduled arraignment yesterday.
Leviste’s lawyer Joseph Benedict Gesmundo said his client’s request was merely a “remedy provided to the accused by the rules of court.”
Gesmundo said Makati Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 66 Judge Josefino Subiano remanded the case to the Department of Justice for preliminary investigation.
Talking to reporters after the hearing, Leviste deflected questions on his case by talking mainly about his “billion trees program.”
In isolation
“I don’t know if I can attend to our activity on Arbor Day (June 25), but we have sent invitations to government officials,” the inmate said. “I have been locked up in isolation (bartolina), and never did I expect this to happen to me.”
On the fallout from his unauthorized furlough in May, he said when his “story is told, I will be vindicated.”
Leviste left the prison compound on May 18 and went to the family-owned LPL building in Makati City. The “caper” was caught on camera. Agents of the National Bureau of Investigation rearrested the former Batangas governor. His driver, Nilo Solis, was also arrested and charged as an accomplice.
Leviste insisted he did not intend to escape. He said he was going to have a toothache checked.
Environment advocacy
It was through his environment advocacy, according to Leviste, that he earned living-out status, an informal practice corrections officials tolerated. Such privileges have since been stopped by the DoJ.
Leviste could get six years for the charge of evading his prison term of six to 12 years, the punishment meted to him after being convicted of killing his longtime aide and confidant Rafael de las Alas in 2007.
His caper sparked investigations in Congress. It has also led to the resignation of Bureau of Corrections Director Ernesto Diokno, a retired police general.