Child abuse case vs Zambales mayor ordered transferred to Manila

OLONGAPO CITY—The Supreme Court has ordered the transfer of a case, involving a Zambales mayor accused of child abuse and trafficking, to Manila due to concerns about the 12-year-old complainant’s safety.

Joy Bayona, associate provincial prosecutor, said the cases against San Marcelino Mayor Jose Rodriguez would be transferred to a family court in Manila once Judge Norman Pamintuan of the Regional Trial Court Branch 73 receives the official copy of the order.

The Supreme Court’s third division, in a copy of the transfer order, granted the request made by the victim’s mother for the transfer, saying Rodriguez wields authority and influence in Zambales due to his position. The mother said her daughter was afraid to testify for fear of her life.

The order, which was based on the resolution of the court’s third division dated Aug. 31, and signed by deputy division clerk of court Wilfredo Lapitan, directed the Olongapo RTC Branch 73 to send the records of the criminal cases to the Manila RTC.

It also ordered the executive judge of Manila RTC to “raffle [off] the consolidated cases among the designated family courts of the said court [and] the judge to whom the aforesaid consolidated cases will be raffled [off] to hear, try and decide the cases with dispatch.”

Rodriguez attended the hearing here on Thursday but was informed that Pamintuan was sick. The next hearing is scheduled on Nov. 10.

Asked about the court’s transfer order, Maria Rosario Cesa, Rodriguez’s lawyer, said in a text message:  “We are comfortable to litigate wherever the case will be heard. The truth will come out in any court that our client is innocent.”

In January, Rodriguez was arraigned in the sala of Judge Richard Paradeza of RTC Branch 72 and pleaded innocent to the charge of violation of the Anti-Child Abuse Act (Republic Act No. 7610).

Bayona filed an amended charge against Rodriguez after Paradeza dismissed the trafficking charges under Section 4 of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003 (RA 9208). In her amended charge, Bayona cited Section 11 of RA 9208 for “use of trafficked persons.”

The case was transferred to Pamintuan when he was made a regular judge of the family court in February, Bayona said.

In an earlier statement, Rodriguez denied the charges and said the case filed by the girl and her mother was meant to destroy his reputation and cause “political turmoil” in the town.

Rodriguez said he was on his way to Manila on Sept. 12 last year, the day he supposedly raped the girl.

Bayona also sued Jonie Ponce, also known as “Jodie,” for bringing the girl to the mayor’s rest house in San Marcelino where the alleged rape took place. Ponce is facing charges of violating RA 9208 and RA 7610.

Genia Eclarino, director of the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Olongapo, welcomed the transfer of the case to Manila.

“This is quite good, knowing I myself and the rest of our witnesses and the mother will be safe,” said Eclarino, whose agency has been assisting the girl since last year.

Eclarino said the girl, her mother and DSWD officials have been receiving threats since the case began. She, however, declined to give details on the threats.

“We expect the case to [proceed faster] because there have been many postponements here. There were several times when [Pamintuan] could not hold the hearing because he was sick. Most of all, we want the safety of the child,” she said. Robert Gonzaga, Inquirer Central Luzon