A POLICE officer who pointed a gun at a 15-year-old boy who refused to vacate a basketball court has been convinced by the Supreme Court for child abuse.
In a 24-page decision promulgated on January 17, 2023 but only made public last August 8, the Court en banc sentenced Senior Police 2 (now Police Senior M/Sergeant) Marvin San Juan to a prison term ranging from four years, nine months and 11 days to seven years and four months and to pay P40,000 in moral and exemplary damages to the boy.
Records of the case showed that San Juan, who was allegedly drunk on the morning of March 26, 2014, cursed at the boy and his two friends who were hanging out on a basketball court.
In his tirade, San Juan reportedly told the three “pag-uuntugin ang magulang,” drawing laughter from the boy. This angered the cop and threatened to hit the boy with a stone.
One of the boy’s friends, who was only 11 at that time, told the court that San Juan pulled out his gun and pointed it at the back of his friend, warning them not to hang out in the area anymore.
When the victim went back to get his t-shirt that he left in their rush to get away from the cop, San Juan chased him with a stone.
In his defense, San Juan denied pointing a gun at the boy, insisting that he used a stone to chase the boys out of the basketball court, insulted that they laughed at him when he told them not to play basketball during weekdays.
He also denied pointing a gun at the victim, saying he left his gun at home. San Juan also told the court he was not drunk because he just came home from duty.
But his claims failed to sway the trial court, which found him guilty of violating Republic Act 7610, or the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act, and sentenced him to up to six years in prison on July 22, 2015.
The trial court said San Juan’s denial that he did not point a gun at the victim cannot overcome the “categorical, credible and positive testimony” of the victim.
San Juan appealed his conviction to the Court of Appeals but again lost, with the appellate court modifying the case to grave threat but increasing the penalty to up to seven years and four months of imprisonment.
He elevated the case to the SC but the tribunal, in a 13-0 vote, adopted the trial court’s ruling that the policeman was guilty of child abuse under RA 7610 and not grave threat as held by the appellate court.
The SC said what San Juan did was “intrinsically cruel” and can be considered as a form of psychological abuse under RA 7610.
“It bears emphasis that the object involved in this case is a gun. Unlike other objects that may be used to hurt a child, a gun serves no other purpose than to cause injury or death. In the hands of a person with ill motive, the objective to injure or kill could be achieved; in the hands of a person with good intentions, the objective to repel unlawful aggression may be accomplished. In these cases, one has to cause injury in order to achieve either objective,” the SC ruling penned by Associate Justice Jhosep Lopez said.
Associate Justices Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa and Henri Jean Paul Inting dissented from the majority ruling, arguing that the policeman should be held liable for grave threats and not child abuse.
More than the case itself, the ruling also clarified the scope of coverage of RA 7610, with the SC saying it could even be used for acts already covered by the Revised Penal Code (RPC).
The SC noted that prior to the enactment of RA 7610, an act falling under Article 59 of PD 603, when committed by a non-parent, is punishable under the appropriate counterpart provision of the RPC.
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BuCor chief accepts resignation
of controversial executive assistant
BY Ashzel Hachero
BUREAU of Corrections Director General Gregorio Catapang Jr. yesterday said he has accepted the resignation of Jail S/Insp. Angelina Bautista as his executive assistant amid the various controversies surrounding her.
But Catapang said Bautista’s resignation “will not stop the investigation being conducted by the Bureau to ferret out the truth and to also give her a chance to defend and clear her name.”
Catapang also directed Bautista to surrender all the government properties issued to her before she can be granted clearance.
In a statement, the agency said Bautista tendered her resignation effective August 11 as Executive Assistant IV of the Office of the Director General, saying she was “no longer comfortable working due to the controversies and baseless accusations” against her and the BuCor.
“My resignation does not mean that I am admitting there are malicious and unfounded issues incriminating my untainted years of public service. I wanted peace, not only for my family but for the entire Bureau of Corrections. I wanted to leave proud, untainted and uncorrupted, regardless of how people might perceive it,” the agency quoted Bautista as saying in her resignation letter.
Bautista also served as OIC at the Office of the Deputy Director General for Operations.
Bautista’s resignation came days after she and C/Supt. Geraldo Aro were relieved from their posts.
Aro served as Director of the Directorate for Administration and Superintendent of the Davao Prison and Penal Farm.
The House Committee on Public Order and Safety, investigating the disappearance of Bilibid inmate Michael Cataroja last July 15, had earlier raised several issues against Bautista.
She is being linked to an alleged construction business inside the Correctional Institute for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City, an accusation she denied.
Bautista is also being accused as the owner of a catering service that won the P21 million contract to provide food for CIW inmates.
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Caritas PH pushes for nationwide
ban on reclamation projects
By Gerard Naval
INSTEAD of being limited only to the Manila Bay area, why not prohibit reclamation projects all over the country?
This was the challenge posed by the social advocacy arm of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), saying the Marcos administration should ban reclamation projects nationwide.
“We call on President Bongbong Marcos to issue an executive order banning all reclamation projects, not only in Manila Bay but across the country,” Caritas Philippines President Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo said in a statement.
“Caritas Philippines and other civil society organizations argue that these projects are not in the best interests of the Filipino people,” he added.
The prelate said this is because reclamation projects displace fisherfolks and coastal urban communities, destroy coastal ecosystems, and contribute to food insecurity.
“We are deeply concerned about the negative impacts of reclamation projects on the environment, the economy, and the people,” said Bagaforo.
Instead of relying on reclamation projects, he urged the government to find better alternatives to advance commercial and industrial development.
“We need to invest in sustainable development that will benefit all Filipinos, not just a few wealthy individuals,” said Bagaforo.
President Marcos Jr. had suspended reclamation projects in Manila Bay covering a total of 22 projects that were approved under the Duterte administration.
The reclamation projects are now indefinitely suspended pending an ongoing assessment by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
p2 house franchise — joan
Davao power firm franchise expansion opposed
BY WENDELL VIGILIA
THE Northern Davao Electric Cooperative (NORDECO) has opposed four House bills proposing to expand the franchise area of the Davao Light and Power Company, Inc. (DLPC), saying it will violate the Constitution and the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) of 2001.
“The Constitution does not allow laws that impair contracts. With House Bills 5077, 6740, 6995, and 7047, existing contracts of NORDECO will be substantially impaired. For example, power supply contracts will be servicing a much smaller franchise area,” lawyer Jeorge Rapista, legal counsel for NORDECO, told the House Committee on Legislative Franchises on Monday.
Party-list Reps. Sergio Dagooc (APEC) and Presley De Jesus (PHILRECA) agreed with Rapista’s opinion, citing the non-impairment clause under Article III, Section 10 of the 1987 Constitution, as well as Section 27 of the EPIRA which provides that “all existing franchises be allowed to their full term.”
NORDECO said that if the measures are enacted, it would substantially amend the current franchises held by distributors currently serving most of the municipalities and cities that were proposed to be transferred to DLPC.
“If these HBs are passed it would create a disastrous precedent that can be abused. It encourages cutthroat behavior among competitors for the same franchise areas. Essentially, it overwrites the due process required by the EPIRA law to suspend or revoke franchise rights,” Rapista said.
DLPC currently serves Davao City and some parts of Davao del Norte, such as Panabo City and the towns of Carmen, Sto. Tomas and Braulio Dujali.
In 2022, President Marcos Jr. vetoed an earlier version of the bill on the same grounds, pointing to the “apparent overlap and possible infringement into the subsisting franchise, permits, and contracts previously granted to [NORDECO],” and called it a “prohibited collateral attack” on its franchise.
To address the legal challenges hounding the bills, lawmakers proposed a series of measures such as adopting the right administrative process to review the franchises in question, as well as an additional provision within the measures protecting the existing contracts of the concerned electric cooperatives.
Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez this year refiled the measure now under HB 5077, which, like HB 6740 of Rep. Margarita Ignacia Nograles (PL, PBA), provides for the expansion of the DLPC franchise in Maco, Davao de Oro.
HB 6695, filed by Davao del Norte Rep. Alan Dujali and Davao de Oro Rep. Maria Carmen Zamora, seeks the inclusion of the Island Garden City of Samal (Igacos) in the DLPC’s franchise area.
Rep. Sandro Gonzles’ HB 7047 seeks to include Tagum City, Samal Island and the municipalities of Asuncion, Kapalong, New Corella, San Isidro and Talaingod in Davao del Norte and Maco in Davao de Oro in the service area of the DLPC.
p2 missing sabungeros — joan
Missing ‘sabungero’ cases
to proceed — Remulla
BY ASHZEL HACHERO
JUSTICE Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla yesterday said state prosecutors will proceed with the prosecution of the cases in connection with the disappearance of six “sabungeros” or cockfighters amid the withdrawal of the victims’ families from the cases.
In a chance interview with reporters, Remulla said he was told by the National Prosecution Service (NPS) that they cannot just dismiss the cases.
The NPS, which has jurisdiction over all state prosecutors in the country, is headed by Prosecutor General Benedicto Malcontento.
”Ang sabi ng NPS, we cannot dismiss them if these people have not surrendered to the jurisdiction of the court or the Department of Justice. So, we cannot dismiss these cases,” Remulla said.
“Theoretically, the State can still continue the case even with the desistance of the families. But in our regime of laws, we give big importance on the loved ones as the private offended parties and if they ask for the cases to be dismissed, we allow it to happen. But theoretically, the State can continue if it wishes to,” he added.
Remulla added that the State is also an interested party to the case because it is the one that “tried to enforce a rule of law and regime of law in this country.”
Families of the six missing cockfight aficionados announced on Augusts 4 that they were withdrawing from the case.
The move caught the prosecution panel by surprise, with Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Richard Anthony Fadullon saying the families were diligent in pursuing the cases early on.
Fadullon said then that the cases would proceed, and let the court decide whether or not to give weight to the withdrawal of the families from the cases.
The DOJ filed last January before the Manila Regional Trial Court kidnapping and serious illegal detention raps against six security officers at the Manila Arena namely Julie Patidongan, Gleer Codilla, Mark Carlo Zabala, Virgilio Bayog, Johnny Consolacion and Roberto Matillano Jr. who all have warrants for their arrest in connection with the disappearance of James Baccay, Marlon Baccay, Claude Inonog, Mark Joseph Velasco, Rowel Gomez, and Rondel Cristorum.
Remulla said the development was alarming since it is the only case where the accused group of Patidongan are implicated.
“From cases one to eight, the only one case is filed against this group and this is where there was an attempt to settle all the cases with the aim of dismissing the cases against Patidongan’s group,” Remulla said.
To prevent similar incidents, the DOJ chief said his office has asked the PNP-CIDG to provide an update on its investigation on the other missing sabungero cases.
“I asked for a written update of all these cases from the CIDG, the NBI and the prosecution panel,” he said.
He said he will wait for the report before the DOJ decides on the next step regarding the case.
The DOJ in December last year also indicted three Laguna cops — Ssgt. Daryl Paghangaan and Patrolmen Roy Navarete and Rigel Brosas for robbery and kidnapping of e-sabungero agent Ricardo Lasco.
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Raps to be filed vs Navotas
police chief, 11 policemen
BY VICTOR REYES
The PNP Internal Affairs Service (IAS) has ordered the filing of administrative charges against the Navotas City police chief and 11 other policemen over the recent killing of a 17-year-old boy mistaken for a suspect in a shooting incident.
IAS Inspector General Alfegar Triambulo also recommended to the National Capital Region Police Office the relief of Col. Allan Umipig, the chief of the Navotas City police.
“Upon further investigation of the Internal Affairs Service, it has been discovered that the Navotas chief of police instructed the team leader of the operatives to exclude from their reports 11 police officers who were also involved in the fatal shooting of the 17-year-old Jerhode Jemboy Baltazar,” an IAS statement said on its Facebook page.
As a result, Triambulo “directed the (filing of) charges of dishonesty and command responsibility and command responsibility” against Umipig.
“Atty. Triambulo has also sent a directive to the National Capital Region Police Office director (Brig. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr) to have the Navotas chief of police relieved,” the statement read.
The 11 other policemen involved whose names were excluded in the report will face administrative charges. IAS did not identify the 11 lawmen.
“They will be charged for abandoning the victim and other possible violations of police operational procedures,” it said.
Six Navotas City policemen had earlier been relieved and charged with reckless imprudence resulting in homicide for involvement in the bungled police operation.
IAS said the administrative charges against the six policemen are already at the “summary dismissal stage.”
Last August 2, Navotas City policemen responded to a shooting incident in Barangay NBBS Kaunlaran. One of the suspects was arrested while the other managed to escape.
Policemen later conducted a follow-up operation at a river where one of the suspects was reported sighted.
Baltazar was shot dead by a policeman after he dove into the water when the lawmen asked him and his companion to get off their boat. It later turned out that Baltazar was not involved in the shooting incident.
