Gov’t still to pursue case vs 2 cops in teens slay – DOJ chief

Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra. TETCH TORRES-TUPAS/INQUIRER.net

No need to hit the panic button.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra has allayed fears that the two policemen indicted for the killing of teenagers Carl Angelo Arnaiz and Reynaldo de Guzman may go scot-free due to the supposed failure of state prosecutors to file the case before the appropriate court.

Guevarra said on Wednesday that he would ask for an update on the case after Judge Georgina Hidalgo of the Caloocan City Regional Trial Court Branch 122 raised the issue of jurisdiction during the resumption of the trial of Police Officers 1 Ricky Arquilita and Jeffrey Perez on Tuesday.

READ: Court may dismiss case vs cops in teens’ slay

Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors had already admitted the error after they asked Hidalgo to let them file the murder charge against Arquilita and Perez in Navotas City.

A witness for the prosecution, Joe Daniels, had earlier disclosed that Arnaiz was actually killed in Navotas, not in Caloocan as what was reported previously.

The state prosecutors also insisted that the separate case for torture and planting of evidence against the two policemen may still be handled by Hidalgo since the offenses were allegedly committed in Caloocan.

“Any dismissal (of a case) based on lack of territorial jurisdiction is without prejudice to the re-filing of the case before the proper (court),” Guevarra said in a text message.

He further said that existing jurisprudence on such legal issue would show that questions over jurisdiction should not adversely affect the prosecution of a criminal case.

“It’s just a territorial jurisdiction issue that does not affect the merits of the case,” the justice secretary said. “In any event, I will look into the matter more closely.”

The killing of Arnaiz, a 19-year-old former student of the University of the Philippines, and the gruesome murder of De Guzman, whose body was fished out of a creek in Nueve Ecija province, in August 2017 sparked widespread condemnation of President Rodrigo Duterte’s violent anti-illegal drugs drive.

The killing happened barely two weeks after 17-year-old Kian Lloyd delos Santos was slain by policemen during a supposed anti-drug operation also in Caloocan City.

Mr. Duterte had promised to bring swift justice to the family of Arnaiz, whom the President claimed were his relatives from Leyte province. /kga