Tobacco exec who hit MMDA man up for arraignment

A tobacco firm executive who complained of being a victim of cyberbullying after a video of him attacking a Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) traffic constable went viral will finally be arraigned next month.

Judge Juris Dilinila-Callanta of the Quezon City Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 42 set the arraignment of Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corp. executive Robert Blair Carabuena on Feb. 7 and the pre-trial conference on Mar. 7 after she dismissed his motion for a reinvestigation of the direct assault case filed against him.

In her eight-page order setting “without further delay” the arraignment, Callanta said: “In the search for truth, a trial has distinct merits over a reinvestigation.” According to her, Carabuena was not deprived by the city prosecutor of the right to air his side as she noted that “a review of the record of this case does not show that the accused’s right to preliminary investigation, which is a purely statutory one, has not been duly afforded to him.”

Carabuena earlier contended that he was not given sufficient time and a reasonable opportunity to submit his counter-affidavit during the preliminary investigation. This was debunked by Assistant City Prosecutor Nicasio Rosales who said that Carabuena was given three chances to file his counter-affidavit during the preliminary investigation but still failed to do so.

The direct assault charge stemmed from the Aug. 11, 2012, incident where Carabuena was captured on video hitting MMDA traffic constable Saturnino Fabros after the latter tapped the hood of his car, which was blocking a busy street intersection in Quezon City.—Jeannette I. Andrade