Godino vs Godino

MANILA, Philippines—Here’s  one for “Ripley’s Believe It or Not.”

A husband charged his wife with carnapping, the legal term for car theft.

And surprise, surprise! The prosecutor who handled the preliminary investigation of the case filed it in court!

The judge, in whose court the criminal case was filed, ordered the wife to return the cars, which she did. But the judge continues to hear the carnapping case!

Dr. Elizabeth de Guia-Godino, a psychiatrist at The Medical City hospital in Pasig City, was crying as she told me about her plight.

Godino said her husband, millionaire businessman William Godino, filed the carnapping charge.

Parañaque City assistant prosecutor Sherilyn Baes filed the case in court despite knowing that the accuser and the respondent are husband and wife, respectively.

Parañaque City chief prosecutor Amerhassan Paudac approved the filing of the case.

The psychiatrist said Mr. Godino filed the case after he was ordered by Parañaque Regional Trial Court Judge Marie Grace Ibay to stay away from her.

Ms Godino said she filed a petition for protection order against Mr. Godino after the latter beat her unconscious in a fit of jealousy.

Since Mr. Godino could not come home following the court order to stay away from his wife, he retaliated by filing a carnapping case against her.

He claimed that his wife stole two cars—a Mazda CX9 and a Mazda 3—from him.

The two cars, the wife told me, were just in the garage of their conjugal home.

Dr. Godino filed a motion to quash the charges, but chief prosecutor Paudac denied the motion.

The case has reached Parañaque Regional Trial Court Judge Noemi I. Balitaan.

Balitaan, disregarding the protection order on Dr. Godino that was issued by another judge, ordered the wife to return the two cars to her husband, which she did.

Despite relinquishing possession of the two cars, Dr. Godino’s carnapping case is still pending in Balitaan’s court.

* * *

When I called Paudac why he approved the filing of the charge in court and about his denial of Dr. Godino’s motion for reconsideration, he said he was not aware of the case.

In other words, Paudac just signs charge sheets without reading them.

Both Baes, Paudac and Balitaan should be dismissed from their jobs and disbarred for stupidity.

Only in the Philippines do we find prosecutors like Baes and Paudac and judges like Balitaan.

* * *

In the courts in Metro Manila, Arlene L. is widely known among court employees and judges, and even among justices at the Court of Appeals.

Arlene L. is known for her high connections in the judiciary and her high-flying lifestyle, often seen sporting ultra-expensive signature handbags like Hermes.

You guessed right: Arlene L. is a “fixer” of high-profile cases in the courts.