Annabelle Rama gets reprieve; arrest warrants recalled

A judge Monday recalled the arrest warrants he issued earlier against talent manager Annabelle Rama after she voluntarily showed up in court.

Judge Eleuterio Bathan of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 92 ordered the lifting of the warrants he issued on June 11 when Rama failed to attend her scheduled arraignment on the 14 counts of libel filed against her by former actress Nadia Montenegro.

“[At 8:30 a.m. Monday], the accused escorted by her legal counsel, Howard Calleja, voluntarily surrendered to this court. With… [this], this court has no alternative but to recall the June 11 warrant of arrest,” Bathan said in his two-page order.

Rama earlier asked the court through her lawyer Derick Delegencia to set aside the warrants, saying she had no intention of disregarding her scheduled arraignment.

She explained that she did not attend because she thought that her presence in court was not needed.

Meanwhile, the judge advised Rama not to take for granted the new schedule set by the court for her arraignment on June 25.

“This court is a court of law of which all proceedings are observed within the bounds of the prescribed; tilting the scale of justice; favoring none, but aiming… to render justice, its precious and judicious time should not be abused, otherwise this [the] Court will not tolerate,” the judge said.

Rama was charged with libel in connection with the allegedly malicious remarks she made on Twitter and in television interviews against Montenegro, whose two minor daughters she used to manage.