Amparo suit vs journalists, cops dropped

ILOILO CITY—A suspected drug lord in Iloilo City has sought protection from the court against journalists and policemen, saying allegations of his involvement in the trade of illegal drugs have endangered his family.

But the Iloilo Regional Trial Court (RTC) dismissed the petition for the issuance of a writ of amparo filed by Melvin Odicta and wife, Meriam Regalado, because the petition was “fatally defective both in form and substance.”

Judge Juana Judita Panigbatan-Nafarrete of the RTC Branch 38, in her order, said the couple failed to show that they were victims or face threats of extralegal killing or enforced disappearance which the issuance of the writ intends to address.

In the petition filed on Dec. 15 by his lawyers, Odicta asked the court to order eight respondents to present evidence or witnesses to back their allegations. If they fail to do so, Odicta asked the court to issue a writ of amparo.

Named respondents were Chief Supt. Bernardo Diaz, Western Visayas police director; Senior Supt. Khasmir Disomangcop, Iloilo City police chief; Paul Ledesma, Western Visayas director of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA); and Iloilo City Councilor Plaridel Nava.

Other respondents were Danny Fajardo, editor in chief of the Iloilo-based newspaper Panay News, and radio station dyOK Aksyon Radyo Iloilo staffers John Paul Tia (station manager), Joecel Bañas (assistant station manager) and Salvador “Jun” Capulot (anchorman).

In his petition, Odicta said “malicious and fabricated charges and insinuations” tagging him as a drug personality or drug lord have “placed in jeopardy the life, liberty and security” of his family, including his children who are minors.

The petitioners said they have suffered “sleepless nights, wounded feelings, vexations, nervousness and fear” due to the allegations.

Ledesma of PDEA earlier identified Odicta as the head of one of two illegal drug groups operating in the city. While he admitted that they do not have enough evidence against Odicta to charge him in court, Ledesma said accounts of arrested drug pushers and other information gathered by the agency have pointed to Odicta as behind the illegal drug trade here.

Odicta, who runs several businesses including a restaurant and a taxi service, was identified as the leader of a group of men, several of whom were believed to be armed, who tried to forcibly enter the offices of Aksyon Radyo Iloilo on Nov. 19 last year. He was identified in a footage captured by security cameras in the building.

The break-in, believed to be due to the station’s commentaries against illegal drugs, prompted a Senate inquiry on Dec. 10 led by Sen. Grace Poe.

In the eight-page order issued on Dec. 28, Nafarrete said the writ of amparo was not the “proper remedy in this case because it is a prerogative which can only be availed if there is no other remedy in the ordinary course of the law.”