The Court of Appeals (CA) has decided to hear the petition of a church leader who claimed he was abducted by the police last year, charged with murder, and detained at the provincial jail of Cavite.
Set to be heard on Sept. 11 is the case of Pastor Berlin Guerrero of the United Churches of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) who was allegedly abducted by the police in May 2007 and later charged with murder before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Bacoor, Cavite.
The resolution setting the petition for hearing was written by Associate Justice Martin S. Villarama Jr. and concurred in by Associate Justices Noel G. Tijam and Arturo G. Tayag.
Judge Martias M. Garcia II of the Bacoor RTC denied Guerrero’s motion to dismiss the criminal case.
The denial prompted the UCCP, the National Council of Churches in the Philippines, Ecumenical Bishops Forum, Union Theological Seminary, the Kilosbayan Foundation, and the Bantay Katarungan Foundation to elevate the issue before the Supreme Court (SC) through former Senate President Jovito R. Salonga.
In a resolution issued last June 10, the SC remanded the case to the CA because the issues cited in the petition "call for an examination of facts" and "in view of the seriousness of the allegations of violation of the liberty and dignity of a citizen who is said to be under detention."
Guerrero had accused the police of filing fabricated charges against him.
He said he was abducted and brought to a safehouse where he had been tortured for days by several men to admit that he is a high-ranking official of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) chapter in Cavite. Guerrero denied the charges.
Guerrero also said that he was brought to Camp Pantaleon Garcia of the the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Imus, Cavite. (Rey G. Panaligan)
In ordering the hearing of his petition, the CA directed the jail warden of the Cavite provincial jail in Trece Martires City to present Guerrero personally to the court so he could testify on the circumstances of his alleged abduction or arrest.
Garcia was ordered to send to the CA the complete records and all pertinent documents on Guerrero’s case.
The CA also asked the head of the Cavite PNP to attend the hearing and to bring the investigation report or the complaint received against the pastor. (Rey G. Panaligan)
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