Court junks murder raps vs 4 leftist ex-lawmakers

MANILA, Philippines — A Nueva Ecija court has junked the murder charges and revoked the warrants of arrest against former Gabriela Women’s party-list representative and current National Anti-Poverty Commission lead convenor Liza Maza, former Anakpawis representative and former agrarian reform secretary Rafael Mariano and former Bayan Muna representatives Satur Ocampo and Teddy Casiño.

In his Aug. 8 resolution, acting Presiding Judge Trese Wenceslao said the evidence on hand failed to establish probable cause against the accused.

Lawyer Rachel Pastores confirmed the case dismissal, which was received by the Office of the Clerk of Court of the Palayan Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 40 last Friday.

Wenceslao took over the case from Branch 40 Judge Evelyn Atienza-Turla who issued their warrants of arrest and later inhibited from the case after citing pressure.

Ocampo and the other accused immediately filed a motion for reconsideration against their arrest on the same day.?As a result of the dismissal, the warrants of arrest issued against the four on July 11 were revoked.

The murder cases stemmed from the killing of Jimmy Peralta and Carlito Bayudang in 2003 and 2004, respectively.?Bayudang and Peralta were member-supporters of Akbayan, the rival party-list of Makabayan, to which Ocampo and the rest belong.

The accused militant leaders questioned the arrest warrants, claiming that the case was filed to discourage dissent during the presidency of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

They claimed that separate rebellion and disqualification cases based on witnesses’ statement had been dismissed earlier.

National Democratic Front peace consultant Randy Malayao said the dismissal of the case against Ocampo and the rest is “a triumph of justice.”

“The case is legally infirm for Ka Satur and others from the very start. It took the court to decide 12 years after. All other trumped-up cases must be dismissed, like that of proscription filed against more than 600 of us,” Malayao added.

Government chief negotiator Silvestre Bello III said the rule of law must be followed now that the court has cleared Maza.

“That’s due process, and after due process, we have to accept the rule of law. If the case is dismissed, then the warrant should be quashed,” Bello told reporters in a chance interview at Malacañang. – With Alexis Romero