THE Court of Appeals has junked the plea of fugitive former Bureau of Corrections chief Gerald Bantag seeking to quash murder charges filed by the Department of Justice before the Las Piñas City Regional Trial Court in connection with the 2022 killing of radio broadcaster Percival “Percy Lapid” Mabasa.
In a three-page resolution promulgated on June 19, the appellate court’s Second Division through Associate Justice Ronaldo Roberto Martin held that Bantag’s petition for certiorari has no basis. The petition assailed the Oct.16, 2023 resolution issued by Presiding Judge Harold Cesar Hulingaga, of the Las Piñas RTC Branch 254, denying his petitions to quash the case and the subsequent issuance of warrant of arrest and his motion for reconsideration of the trial court’s order dated Feb. 26, 2024.
The motion to quash before the RTC rested on two main grounds — that the state prosecutors did not have the authority to file the information of murder, and that the RTC has no jurisdiction over the crime charged as the same falls within the exclusive and original jurisdiction of the Sandiganbayan because Bantag, as BuCor chief, had a position equivalent to Salary Grade 30.
However, the appellate court cited a Supreme Court ruling in the case of Austria AAA and BBB that a private complainant may file a special civil action for certiorari even without the intervention of the Office of the Solicitor (OSG), but only to the end of preserving his or her interest in the civil aspect of the case.
Hence, the CA said the SC dismissed for lack of legal standing or personality the appeals or petitions for certiorari by the private offended parties because it was filed without the consent or conformity of the OSG, questioning the dismissal of the criminal case or acquittal of the accused.
“More significantly, in the Manual for Prosecutors, Section 12.5 and 12.6, Chapter XII requires that all requests to file petition for certiorari shall be first coursed through the Office of the Prosecutor General for evaluation and approval prior to the consent of the OSG. The said procedure along with the non-conformity of the OSG on the filing on the filing of the instant petition for certiorari calls for the outright dismissal of the petition,” the CA said.
“Wherefore, the petition is dismissed outright,” it added.
Concurring with the resolution are Associate Justices Fernanda Lampas Peralta and Alfonso Ruiz II.
Bantag, tagged as the mastermind in the Oct. 3, 2022 killing of Lapid, and Bilibid inmate Cristito Palana Villamor, is subject of manhunt operations based on the warrants issued by the Las Pinas and Muntinlupa city courts.
The Department of Justice has offered a P2-million reward to any person who could provide information that would lead to Bantag’s apprehension.
Last month, Joel Escorial who confessed to killing Lapid was found guilty and sentenced to suffer from eight years to 16 years in prison.
Escorial was convicted on the lesser offense of accessory to murder after he agreed to cooperate with the authorities.
