Degamo slay: Suspect’s lawyer ‘trifling’ with the law – Remulla
DOJ Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla (left) and Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo “Arnie” Teves Jr. INQUIRER FILES
MANILA, Philippines — Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla asked the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) on Wednesday to take disciplinary action against the lawyer of one of the suspects in the murder of Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo.
In his letter to IBP chair Burt Estrada, Remulla accused Danny Villanueva, the lawyer of Osmundo Rivero, of wasting “our time, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the courts.”
This was after Villanueva filed a petition for habeas corpus on May 22, asking the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 4 to summon Remulla and National Bureau of Investigation Director Medardo de Lemos for allegedly kidnapping Rivero’s family.
Remulla, however, said that Rivero’s family had been placed in the Witness Protection Program (WPP) with Rivero’s consent although they were released on May 17, days before Villanueva filed the petition for habeas corpus. “He knows the case is already moot because the family has already been released. He asked the court to set a hearing even though he knows nothing will happen, so you’re trifling with the court and the [legal] process,” Remulla said.
For his part, Villanueva said that his filing of the petition was “a right enshrined in the Constitution and to avail [of] and exercise said right is not trifling with the judicial process.”
Public appeal
“Before we filed the petition, we made a public appeal to [Remulla] to release Queenie and the two children but he did not, so we assisted Mr. Jhudiel [Osmundo] Rivero [in filing] the petition,” he told reporters. Villanueva also insisted that his client’s family was forcibly taken by authorities.
“What is seriously wrong is the action of [the] NBI upon instructions of [Remulla] to arbitrarily arrest and detain innocent individuals upon the pretext that they requested to be placed under WPP. We have the sworn statements of Riveros’ family that they did not freely go with the NBI but that they were misled into believing that [Rivero] requested the NBI to take custody of his family,” he said.
Another suspect in the case, suspended Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr., meanwhile, called on Remulla not to “destroy the names of other people” after the DOJ secretary told the lawyers of the suspects in the Degamo case to take the proceedings seriously.
No subpoena
Remulla made the remark after Tuesday’s preliminary investigation was moved to June 27 when Teves’ lawyer, including those representing 10 other suspects, failed to attend.
In a five-minute video on Facebook on Tuesday night, Teves said that he did not receive a subpoena to attend the proceeding, adding, “Before you attend a preliminary investigation, you need to have a subpoena. Like an invitation to a party.”
“We did not receive a subpoena, so why would I or my lawyers attend a party if we do not have an invitation? We would look like gatecrashers.”
Ferdinand Topacio, Teves’ lawyer, also said that they had “consistently participated in all the preliminary investigations … where subpoenas were properly served.”
“It is thus strange that now Mr. Remulla, after unjustifiably casting doubts on our authority to represent Representative Teves, is now wondering why we were absent,” he said in a statement.
