A month had passed since he was photographed having lunch in a restaurant with his jail guard in an unauthorized detour from the Cebu provincial jail.
Yesterday, detained ex-mayor Alfredo Arsenio of Lezo town, Aklan province flared up when he saw news cameras again at the Palace of Justice where he was brought, handcuffed, for a court hearing.
The 9 a.m. hearing of his murder case was called off due to the absence of the judge.
As Arsenio walked out, escorted by two jail guards, his lawyer Eduardo Arriba urged, “Stop taking photographs, you don’t have a (court) order.”
Arsenio kept his head down, shielding his face with the black case holder of the sunglasses he wore.
At the parking lot, he angrily threw the hard case at Cebu Daily News photographer Junjie Mendoza who was standing in front taking his picture.
The case missed its target and fell on the ground.
There was a moment of stunned silence among two TV crews, and CDN’s reporter and photographer. Then they went on with their work.
Arsenio, who’s accused of shooting dead Mindanao radio broadcaster Gerson Hinolan eight years ago, didn’t say a word as he, with three jail guards, got into the white service van bound for the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilition Center (CPDRC).
“Wala na lang ko ni-react. Nagkuha ra man sab ko og litrato. Part man na sa trabaho. (I just didn’t react. I was there to take photographs. That is part of my job),” said Mendoza, a 20-year photojournalist.
Last Feb. 8, Arsenio’s lunch out with his lawyer and a jail guard at Sabel’s Restaurant near the Palace of Justice landed in a TV-5 newscast and CDN’s front page with images of the detainee, without handcuffs, holding a wad of money bills, as he emerged from the eatery.
The report prompted Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia to immediately relieve the CPDRC jail warden and later suspend the detainee’s jail-guard escort.
All CPDRC escorts were given a refresher orientation on proper custodial handling of inmates brought out for hearings.
Outraged prosecutors said they would have Arsenio cited in contempt by the court but yesterday, Assistant City Prosecutor Gandhi Truya said they decided against it, to avoid delaying the trial.
“We are after time. Filing a petition for contempt would just eat up trial dates. All we want is speedy disposition of the case,” he said.
He said Arsenio was influential and had been enjoying favored treatment before in detention, one of the reasons the venue of the murder trial was moved from Aklan to Cebu.
“Since 2008, we have been filing motions to cite Arsenio in contempt of court. There was an information that he was a prison cavalier,” he said, citing a report that Arsenio was able to go home to attend a town fiesta, but nothing came of the complaint.
Arsenio was supposed to be cross-examined yesterday. The hearing was reset to April 20.
Prosecutor Truya said there was nothing wrong with journalists covering the movements of the detainee with video or still cameras.
“Is there a law violated? I don’t think so,” Truya told reporters.
“Every proceeding is public. All parties involved are public. The trial itself is public.”
Defense lawyer Eduardo Arriba said he is ready to answer any queries about the Feb. 8 lunch out, where he was present.
“We will make an explanation to the court if we are asked,” he said.
The Supreme Court (SC) ordered the transfer of the trial venue to Cebu in 2008.
Arsenio was accused of shooting Bombo Radyo dyIN station manager Hinolan near a carnival in Kalibo, Aklan, on Nov. 13, 2004. Arsenio denied the charge, saying he was home at the time of the killing.