Beltran questions judge's decision to push through with rebellion case
From the Office of Anakpawis Representative Crispin B. Beltran
Lisa C. Ito, Public Information Officer (+63)927.796.7006
Tel. # (+632) 431-6615 Email: crispinbeltran@gmail.com
URL: http:// www.geocities.com/ap_news
NEWS RELEASE
June 2, 2006
Beltran questions judge's decision to push through with rebellion case
Activist lawmaker Crispin Beltran will be appealing the decision of a Makati court to push through with the false and fabricated rebellion case against him. Beltran's legal counsel, United Nations ad litem judge Atty. Romeo Capulong said that they would be filing a Motion for Reconsideration this Monday, June 5, asking the judge in Beltran's case to change her earlier decision to push through with the rebellion case against Beltran.
In a three-sentence order dated May 31, 2006, Judge Encarnacion Jaja Moya of the Makati Regional Trial Court (MRTC) Branch 146 wrote: "After examining the record of this case, the Court finds probable cause to believe that the accused 1Lt. Lawrence San Juan, P.A., and Crispin Beltran y Bertiz committed the crime charged."
Judge Moya set Beltran's arraignment on June 8, 2006 at 2:00 pm at the MRTC Branch 146.
The one-paragraph commitment order did not even discuss how the court came to conclude that there was probable cause for rebellion in Beltran's case, despite volumes of incontrovertible documentary counter-evidence disputing the DOJ's charges, Atty. Capulong said.
Atty. Capulong cited as an example the affidavit of DOJ witness Ruel Escala, a manicurist from Manila, who claimed that he saw the six progressive party list representatives meet with alleged Magdalo soldiers at around 3:00 p.m on February 20 at a cockfighting farm in Brgy. Bukal, Padre Garcia, Batangas, while answering the call of nature in the vicinity. Escala's affidavit was countered by documentary evidence showing that all six solons were in the vicinity of the Lower House that day. These included footages from the House security camera, attendance sheets that proved their presence at committee hearings and journals of plenary sessions.
Atty. Capulong also stressed that the DOJ has engaged in forum-shopping, an unconstitutional practice to get legal cases heard in courts thought most likely to provide a favorable judgment, or to have the case moved to a different court. The DOJ previously succeeded in pressuring MRTC Branch 137 Judge Jenny Lind Aledcoa-Delorino to inhibit herself from the case after she threw out the DOJ's motion to admit amended information to Beltran's rebellion charge, which would include the 'Batasan 5' solons in the original charge sheet. The case was raffled off last May 15 to Judge Moya.
"Parang gusto kong maiyak (I feel like crying)," was Beltran's first reaction upon hearing the news yesterday morning. This is the second time in his life that Beltran will be facing court charges for rebellion. Beltran was incarcerated and tortured as a political prisoner in Camp Crame during the Marcos dictatorship. The 73-year old solon is currently confined under heavy police custody at the Philippine Heart Center, for treatment of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.
"While the Arroyo administration is doing nothing to immediately stop the extra-judicial killings of activists, it is waging intense political repression against progressive parliamentarians through legalistic means. Legalistic, but not in accordance with the spirit of the law and of justice," Beltran said.
Beltran however stressed that he would "face and expose these false and fabricated charges in court and welcome initiatives to oppose repression through political means and through mass protests in the streets". ###
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TEXT OF COURT ORDER:
Makati RTC Branch 146
Crim. Case No. 06-45z
ORDER
After examining the record of this case, the Court finds probable cause to believe that accused 1Lt. Lawrence San Juan, P.A. and Crispin Beltran y Bertiz committed the crime charged. Let a commitment order be issued.
Considering that there is a pending Motion to Quash filed by accused San Juan and an opposition thereto has already been filed, the same is now submitted for resolution. The arraignment of accused Beltran is set onJune 8, 2006 at 2:00pm
SO ORDERED
Makati City, May 31, 2006
Encarnacion Jaja G. Moya
Lisa C. Ito, Public Information Officer (+63)927.796.7006
Tel. # (+632) 431-6615 Email: crispinbeltran@gmail.com
URL: http:// www.geocities.com/ap_news
NEWS RELEASE
June 2, 2006
Beltran questions judge's decision to push through with rebellion case
Activist lawmaker Crispin Beltran will be appealing the decision of a Makati court to push through with the false and fabricated rebellion case against him. Beltran's legal counsel, United Nations ad litem judge Atty. Romeo Capulong said that they would be filing a Motion for Reconsideration this Monday, June 5, asking the judge in Beltran's case to change her earlier decision to push through with the rebellion case against Beltran.
In a three-sentence order dated May 31, 2006, Judge Encarnacion Jaja Moya of the Makati Regional Trial Court (MRTC) Branch 146 wrote: "After examining the record of this case, the Court finds probable cause to believe that the accused 1Lt. Lawrence San Juan, P.A., and Crispin Beltran y Bertiz committed the crime charged."
Judge Moya set Beltran's arraignment on June 8, 2006 at 2:00 pm at the MRTC Branch 146.
The one-paragraph commitment order did not even discuss how the court came to conclude that there was probable cause for rebellion in Beltran's case, despite volumes of incontrovertible documentary counter-evidence disputing the DOJ's charges, Atty. Capulong said.
Atty. Capulong cited as an example the affidavit of DOJ witness Ruel Escala, a manicurist from Manila, who claimed that he saw the six progressive party list representatives meet with alleged Magdalo soldiers at around 3:00 p.m on February 20 at a cockfighting farm in Brgy. Bukal, Padre Garcia, Batangas, while answering the call of nature in the vicinity. Escala's affidavit was countered by documentary evidence showing that all six solons were in the vicinity of the Lower House that day. These included footages from the House security camera, attendance sheets that proved their presence at committee hearings and journals of plenary sessions.
Atty. Capulong also stressed that the DOJ has engaged in forum-shopping, an unconstitutional practice to get legal cases heard in courts thought most likely to provide a favorable judgment, or to have the case moved to a different court. The DOJ previously succeeded in pressuring MRTC Branch 137 Judge Jenny Lind Aledcoa-Delorino to inhibit herself from the case after she threw out the DOJ's motion to admit amended information to Beltran's rebellion charge, which would include the 'Batasan 5' solons in the original charge sheet. The case was raffled off last May 15 to Judge Moya.
"Parang gusto kong maiyak (I feel like crying)," was Beltran's first reaction upon hearing the news yesterday morning. This is the second time in his life that Beltran will be facing court charges for rebellion. Beltran was incarcerated and tortured as a political prisoner in Camp Crame during the Marcos dictatorship. The 73-year old solon is currently confined under heavy police custody at the Philippine Heart Center, for treatment of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.
"While the Arroyo administration is doing nothing to immediately stop the extra-judicial killings of activists, it is waging intense political repression against progressive parliamentarians through legalistic means. Legalistic, but not in accordance with the spirit of the law and of justice," Beltran said.
Beltran however stressed that he would "face and expose these false and fabricated charges in court and welcome initiatives to oppose repression through political means and through mass protests in the streets". ###
-----------------------------------------------------
TEXT OF COURT ORDER:
Makati RTC Branch 146
Crim. Case No. 06-45z
ORDER
After examining the record of this case, the Court finds probable cause to believe that accused 1Lt. Lawrence San Juan, P.A. and Crispin Beltran y Bertiz committed the crime charged. Let a commitment order be issued.
Considering that there is a pending Motion to Quash filed by accused San Juan and an opposition thereto has already been filed, the same is now submitted for resolution. The arraignment of accused Beltran is set onJune 8, 2006 at 2:00pm
SO ORDERED
Makati City, May 31, 2006
Encarnacion Jaja G. Moya
posted at 6:58 PM
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