The Department of Justice (DOJ) has dismissed the complaint filed against officials of British School Manila (BSM) in connection with a student’s suicide in February 2015.
In a resolution dated June 16, the DOJ said the complaint filed by the mother of Liam Joseph Madamba for obstruction of justice was tantamount to “a fishing expedition” since there was no criminal investigation conducted against the respondents, including his teacher Natalie Mann.
Welcoming the ruling, the chair of the school’s Board of Governors, Simon Bewlay, said “BSM echoes the prosecutor’s empathy with Mrs. Madamba over the tragic loss of her son, but is grateful for the thoughtful, objective decision.”
“On behalf of Simon Mann, Brendan Egan, Stein Melsbo, Bart Edes, Paul Ingram, Alison Doig Henderson, Trevor Lewis, Bill Tweddell, Andrew Logan, Alan Hearn, Anne Haslam, David Gold, Martyn Turner, Angel Guerrero, and Catherine Tantoco-Daniels and myself—as well as teacher Natalie Mann—we welcome the dismissal of this criminal complaint in its entirety,” Bewlay said in a statement on Tuesday.
“BSM puts the well-being and education of its students first at all times. This is, and always will be, the school’s driving ethos,” he added.
Maria Teresa Madamba sued the BSM officials eight months ago for allegedly concealing the circumstances that led to the death of the 18-year-old Liam, who jumped from the sixth floor of a car park building at the Makati City central business district on Feb. 6, 2015.
Madamba filed a complaint also because Simon Mann, Lewis and Egan allowed the resignation of teacher Natalie Mann, who allegedly threatened her son Liam and another student with dismissal for plagiarizing their essay.
But the DOJ ruling noted: “Apparently, if there is no criminal investigation, there could be no investigation to obstruct, impede, frustrate or delay. To interpret it otherwise would make it too general [and] tantamount to a fishing expedition which would run counter to the very purpose of the law.”
The BSM statement also pointed out that the DOJ ruled that “there was no obstruction of justice committed when Mrs. Natalie Mann was allowed to go on a leave of absence and eventually resigned from BSM because she could not be considered a suspect for any criminal violation in relation to Liam’s death.”
“A careful examination of affidavits from Mrs. Madamba likewise showed that the evidence presented was contradicted by a second student involved in the incident and did not even pass the test of probable cause for any crimes that the complainant alleged,” the school added.
The resolution also noted that the respondents were charged for being members of BSM’s Council of Trustees or Board of Governors without showing the participation of each respondent, it said.