Beltran and party-list solons Saturnino Ocampo, Liza Maza, Rafael Mariano, Teodoro Casino and Liza Maza asked presiding judge Elmo Alameda to suspend the hearing of the case in conjunction to the June 5 status quo order declared by the Supreme Court.

Alameda, the third judge to handle the rebellion case following the consolidation of the cases and the inhibition of two previous Makati court judges, had called for a clarificatory hearing to resolve the 13 pending motions and manifestations on the consolidated rebellion cases.

The clarificatory hearing was originally scheduled for July 24, the day of President Arroyo’s State of the Nation Address (SONA), but was cancelled due to inclement weather.

The hearing resumed yesterday which allowed Beltran, detained for months at the Philippine Heart Center, to be reunited with the Batasan 5.

Wearing a red barong, Beltran signified his protest against his continued detention under "false and fabricated rebellion raps."

"We hope that these charges would eventually be dismissed for lack of merit," he said.

Romeo Capulong, the solons’ legal counsel, said they are putting off asking the court to resolve the other motions they appealed such as the motion for reconsideration they filed in objection to the consolidation of the cases until Alameda has resolved their pending petition to suspend proceedings.

"We will bring it up later. We will ask the court to resolve the suspension first," Capulong said, citing that the two previous courts who handled the previously separate case violated the high court’s order when it merged the two cases last month despite a pending status quo order.

Capulong also said they are also waiting for the SC resolution on their motion for clarification of the scope of the status quo order.

State Prosecutor Emmanuel Velasco, during the hearing pointed out that despite the status quo order does not affect the consolidation of the case.

"We see no reason not to pursue the proceedings," Velasco told the court pointing out that the SC order does not derail the rebellion charges. But the defense counsels said the judicial exercise would only be futile if the court proceeds with the case. It will be futility in the part of all sides more so if the SC resolves that the status quo order covers the consolidation and all other proceedings of the court," Capulong said.