Now, Jaime Dichaves wants to travel

Now that he’s free from arrest, businessman Jaime Dichaves wants the Sandiganbayan to remove restrictions on his travel and the court’s hold on his properties, including his Quezon City home.

Dichaves, a co-accused in the plunder case against deposed President and convicted plunderer Joseph Estrada, has filed a motion asking the anti-graft court’s Special Division to recall the order of attachment against his properties and lift the hold departure order against him.

He said the restrictions violated a citizen’s right to travel and to due process, as well as the presumption of innocence.

The court earlier recalled the arrest warrant against Dichaves and directed the Office of the Ombudsman to conduct a preliminary investigation of the plunder case against him.

In his motion, Dichaves said that while his arrest warrant had been set aside, there is still a hold departure order against him at the Department of Justice and other pertinent government agencies.

He also said his real properties, including his house and lot in Quezon City, continue to be attached, meaning that these have been effectively frozen.

According to Dichaves, under the Constitution and the rules of court, he is supposed to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

In earlier ordering a reinvestigation of the plunder case against Dichaves, the Sandiganbayan upheld Dichaves’ contention that he had been unable to take part in the earlier preliminary investigation and was not given copies of the Ombudsman’s resolution on the case.