Only one rep for Bella trial

For the next trial date and subsequent hearings, only one representative from the camps of Bella Ruby Santos and the Pique family will be allowed to witness the proceedings inside the courtroom.

Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Ester Veloso of Branch 6 decided to limit the number of supporters who attend Santos’s trial after a commotion that ensued between the parties during the Jan. 28 hearing.

The father of the slain 6-year-old Ellah Joy Pique claimed that a supporter of Santos tried to stab him with a barbecue stick following a heated argument between the two camps after the hearing.

Representatives of both camps met with Judge Veloso to discuss some guidelines during hearings.

Lawyer Inocencio dela Cerna, one of the private prosecutors, didn’t oppose Veloso’s decision to alow just one representative from both camps apart from the counsels during the hearings.

“This is a welcome achievement as this can protect the Pique family from further harassment,” he said.

Defense lawyer Rameses Villagonzalo also chose to heed the court’s order.

“It’s okay. Both parties agreed to just allow one representative during hearings,” he said.

Santos is facing charges of kidnapping with homicide in relation to the gruesome death of Ellah Joy.

Ellah Joy was kidnapped by a woman and a male foreigner outside the Calajoan Elementary School last Feb. 8, 2011.

Her body was thrown off a cliff in Barili, southwest Cebu.

Santos and her partner, Briton Ian Charles Griffiths, were identified by police as the alleged perpetrators of the crime.

Santos was arrested inside a mall in Manila in October 2010 while Griffiths remains at large./ Reporter Ador Vincent Mayol