The Pasay City prosecutor’s office has thrown out two of the complaints filed against show biz couple Raymart Santiago and Claudine Barretto by Inquirer columnist Ramon Tulfo over the brawl they had at the airport in May last year.
A resolution issued by the prosecutor on Oct. 26, 2012, and received by the couple only on Thursday dismissed Tulfo’s complaints for attempted homicide and oral defamation for lack of probable cause.
The resolution, however, recommended that Santiago and companion Eduardo Atillano be charged in court for slight physical injuries and grave coercion.
Barretto was cleared of the grave coercion complaint. “Basically she was cleared of all complaints,” according to the couple’s lawyer, Alex Avisado.
In a text message, Avisado said his clients “are humbled and thankful for this decision.”
“It proves that, indeed, the court is insulated from public opinion and considered the strength of our defense and not the weakness of the complaints,” he said.
Tulfo’s complaint stemmed from the fight he had with the couple and Atilano on May 6 last year at Ninoy Aquino International Airport’s Terminal 3, which was caught on video and went viral.
Meanwhile, a Quezon City court upheld an earlier ruling dismissing Raymart and Claudine’s petition for a writ of amparo, a form of protection order, against Tulfo’s younger brothers Ben, Raffy and Erwin.
Judge Maria Filomena Singh of the Regional Trial Court’s Branch 219 denied the Santiagos’ motion for reconsideration, saying “the court does not have the authority to issue the writ in their favor.”
“There can thus be no valid argument against this court’s finding that the instant case is not covered by the rule on the writ of amparo and that this court does not have the authority to issue the writ in favor of the petitioners. The motion for reconsideration is perforce denied,” Singh said in a resolution.
The couple filed an appeal after the court denied their petition against the three brothers who, in defense of Ramon, allegedly threatened Raymart and Claudine on their TV5 program “T3” shortly after the airport brawl.
The court maintained that the writ of amparo only covers victims of human rights violations or cases of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.