SC justice won’t file case at all

The family of the Supreme Court justice who allegedly received a death threat, purportedly in connection with the controversial Kuratong Baleleng multiple murder case, will not file a complaint before the authorities.

The family of Supreme Court Associate Justice Romeo Callejo said yesterday the jurist will not file any formal complaint over the "wreath-laying" incident at their house in Quezon City last Friday.

The justice’s wife, Ma. Filipinas Villanueva-Callejo, said they opted to remain quiet over the incident because they considered receiving death threats as "merely part of (Justice Callejo’s) job."

"(Justice Callejo) said that as long as he is telling the truth and that he has a clean conscience, (he) must face anything," Mrs. Callejo said in an interview with The STAR. "He also said that everybody knows (his) integrity... (he) should not be afraid."

Central Police District (CPD) Station 6 investigator Senior Police Officer 4 Benjamin Marbil said they could not initiate an investigation unless the Callejos lodge a formal complaint.

Marbil said police investigators have yet to talk to the jurist over the incident but an official of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said they are now tracking the person who delivered the funeral wreath last Friday.

"After we identify the person who brought the wreath, we will ask him to identify the person or persons who commissioned him to bring the flowers," an NBI official said.

The same official said they are pursuing the theory that the wreath was intended to influence Callejo in his opinion over the Kuratong Baleleng multiple murder case involving opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson.

Callejo was the author of the Supreme Court decision last April 1 which ordered the Quezon City regional trial court to proceed with the trial of the case on its merits.

The high court has yet to hand down its final ruling on the case acting on Lacson’s motion for reconsideration.

Justice Secretary Simeon Datumanong said he will order the NBI to improve the security detail for the Supreme Court magistrates following the incident.

Datumanong presided over a meeting with NBI and police officials as well as private prosecutors in setting up contingency measures on the possibility that the Supreme Court finally hands down its final ruling ordering the arrest of Lacson and the other respondents in the Kuratong case.

Arno Sanidad, lawyer of the Kuratong witnesses, told the meeting they had no idea when the high court will finally hand down its ruling.

Lacson has claimed the Kuratong case was "politically motivated" to destroy his chances in the 2004 presidential elections.

"He (Lacson) is to be blamed for that. If he allowed the trial to push through, then the eight year old case should have been resolved and if he is innocent, as what he claims to be, he should have been cleared," Sanidad said.

Sanidad expressed full confidence that the Supreme Court justices will not be swayed by morbid threats. - With Cecille Suerte Felipe