Category: justice

justice for jun?

totoo ba ito?    judge jorge emmanuel lorredo of the manila metropolitan trial court who first dismissed mike defensor’s complaint of perjury vs. jun lozada is the very same judge pala who issued the arrest warrant, and who yesterday issued an order setting the arraignment on may 7?   well, no wonder he is also ordering mike defensor to drop the charges or else!

ORDER

…. Defensor, on May 7, 2009, when I arraign your enemy, Lozada, you shall have the unique opportunity for cleansing, for healing, for regaining public sympathy. The Court suggests that you do what is right for your sake, for your kids’ sake, for your wife’s sake. I have not talked to Mrs. Defensor, but as an experienced trial judge who deals with human emotions and passions everyday in my courtroom, I am sure that Mrs. Defensor wants peace and good health for you.

Why this case is not to the best interest of the first couple-

Since Defensor is not a trial lawyer, he apparently has not seen the very explosive potential of this case: the first couple (Gloria and Mike Arroyo) may validly and legally be dragged into the proceedings by Lozada’s defense team. All that the defense team has to do is invoke certain provisions of the Rules of Court. As a fair and impartial judge, I shall have no reason not to grant such request.

It is true that evil, cruel and vindictive regimes can use the law to make their enemies suffer, but it is that very same set of laws that can enable the oppressed (to) fight back. Such is the beauty of the law: that is why many have fallen in love with the law and have become lawyers or judges. As a child, I have dreamed of one day becoming a judge, to apply the law not to destroy lives, but to make lives better. Now, I am in that position, with the help of God. I dispense justice everyday with the aid and guidance I always seek from our Lord.

When this case goes to trial, I will of course allow the prosecution every opportunity to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.

When it is the turn of the defense to present evidence, I will also allow the defense every opportunity to raise reasonable doubt or to destroy each and every element of the felony of perjury.

Andif there is a motion to present president Gloria or first gentleman Mike Arroyo as hostile witnesses in order for accused Lozada to establish, I will not hesitate to issue the corresponding subpoena compelling the first couple to testify as hostile witness for the defense.

If Gloria and Mike refuse to obey the subpoena, I will not hesitate to issue the warrants of arrest against them because it is the constitutional right of Lozada to have the best possible defense. And it is my duty as trial judge to see to it that there is due process in my court.

If the police officers refuse to serve the arrest warrants because Gloria is their boss, then I will be forced to deputize other public officers to serve and implement the arrest warrants.

I need not search hard nor should I wait long, for Manila Mayor Lim and the many senators who wish to take Lozada into their custody may move that they be deputized. Some of these people are lawyers, some of them have extensive police experience, like Mayor Fred Lim and Senator Ping Lacson. They can arrest, handcuff and put behind bars any fugitive.

They are no match against the PSG, the Presidential Security Group? What if Sen. Trillanes and his comrades join the mission to arrest? Get the picture, Mr. Railroadman Defensor?

Defensor, just imagine how powerful a message that would (be) for our people and for the whole world. And just imagine how that would affect the first couple.

I now suggest to Mike Defensor not to think only of himself in his perjury case. The welfare of the first couple is also involved, as discussed above.

I invite everyone who may come across this order to pray for both Defensor and Lozada, so there may be peace between them.

Please pray also for me, so that I may always be a good, humble, God fearing and very wise Judge to those who seek justice in my courtroom; and so that I may be elevated from a Judge to a Justice (even though I do not have any political backers) for that would surely make my late father, Jorge Lorredo, Jr. (who is now with Jesus in heaven watching me with a smile on his face) and my mother, Mary Lorredo, very proud of their only child.

So ordered.

May 4, 2009.

JORGE EMMANUEL M. LORREDO
Presiding Judge

i expected, thought, that lozada would be tried by manila regional trial court judge cicero jurado jr. who reversed lorredo’s dismissal and ruled that lozada be taken into custody.   where is judge cicero jurado jr?   bakit nawala siya sa picture?   what’s going on?    alam ba ito ni defensor?    inilaglag na ba si defensor?   or are we being taken for a ride a la lozada?

mike’s defense

so what’s mike defensor up to, dredging up the rot of the nbn-zte-fg deal that saw (alleged fixer) ben abalos resign as comelec chief and the project stopped in its tracks.   natabunan na nga ng walang katapusang iba’t ibang atraso at iskandalo ng arroyo govt, dapat ay nagsasaya na lang si mike, jun lozada’s camp was rather quiet, tila lusot na ang mag-asawang arroyo — thanks to romy neri, let’s not forget — at tila okey na lang sa bayan na hintayin ang 2010, malapit na naman, after all.   goodbye gloria, no immunity from suit.

so why?   i don’t buy mike’s spin that it’s just a perjury issue, nothing political daw, he just wants to clear his name.   josko.   eh walang kalatoylatoy ang inihain niyang kaso.

In his complaint for perjury, Defensor said Lozada had given conflicting versions of their conversation:

“Mr. Lozada’s testimony before the Senate significantly deviated from what he gave before the Court of Appeals. In the Senate, he stated that I asked him to deny that he was kidnapped; in the [appellate court] however, he said I asked him to deny any knowledge about the NBN-ZTE deal.

“The statement of Mr. Lozada before the Senate and the appellate court are clearly contradictory and cannot be reconciled. After validating the completeness of my story before the Senate, Mr. Lozada cannot thereafter change its tenor in the court hearing without being held liable for perjury.”

But on Nov. 14, 2008, Judge Jorge Emmanuel Lorredo of the Manila Metropolitan Trial Court (MTC) Branch 26 found no inconsistency on Lozada’s part and dismissed Defensor’s complaint.

In his ruling, Lorredo said: “In the second and third statements [at the Court of Appeals], Lozada was given the impression that if he does not stop, there will be a demolition job against him.

“The Court notes that even in [his Senate testimony], Mike Defensor also said ‘Tapusin na natin ‘to.’ To the Court, that shows the intention of Mike Defensor to put an end to all these things about the ZTE deal …”

well, mike is so lakas, a manila regional trial court obligingly reversed the decision.

Manila RTC Branch 11 Presiding Judge Cicero Jurado Jr. reversed Lorredo’s decision on March 19, upon Defensor’s appeal through his counsel, the Fortun Narvasa lawfirm.

Jurado said the MTC went “a notch above” the requirement for determining probable cause and seemed to have already rendered a verdict without conducting a trial when it concluded that an element of the offense was absent.

He said the question at hand was whether there was evidence showing that a crime had more likely been committed and the accused should be placed under custody.

it is quite conceivable to me that in that conversation between mike and jun, a lot more was said, including both statements mike takes issue with.    and neither is illogical in the context of the other, so what’s the fuss?

obviously naghanap lang ng dahilan to get lozada out of the hands of the religious / civil society and into the hands of the judiciary, where the arroyo admin has some influence (from the lowest to the highest courts) as we can see.   and, really, it has to be connected with jun lozada being urged to run for the senate in 2010.   may panalo kasi (inggit si mike), so the idea is to neutralize him early, let him run from jail, let him serve from jail?    trillanes shows the way?

if mike really wants to clear his name for the sake of his children, it’s simple: withdraw his support from the arroyo administration.   fat chance, yes, but that would wipe the slate clean.

screwed by manangs

read ricky carandang’s screwed and manuel buencamino’s “manangs” acquit a rapist.   my sentiments exactly.   what a huge setback for the women’s fight against sexist politics.   biglang we’re back to the dark ages when women were seen as sex objects incapable of saying no except when playing hard-to-get for extra favors.   biglang we’re back to the old biases and stereotypes, among them that girls who don’t behave with strict decorum, who dress to look ‘n feel good, who drink alcohol, dance dirty, flirt mightily in public, who just wanna have fun, are asking for rape.   wtf.   where are these women justices coming from?  opus dei?   catholic women’s league?  what books are they reading?   mills & boon?   barbara cartland?

read too rina jimenez-david who calls them “maiden aunts” and patricia evangelista who calls them “virtuous ladies”.   which set me wondering, teka, baka naman mga old maid nga ang “learned ladies” na ito of the court of appeals, and so maybe they don’t know any better about men and sex and rape, and quite possibly they’ve never been drunk in their lives?   so i googled them all, only to find that all three are wives and mothers, and maybe grandmothers, wow, good luck na lang sa karma.

both justice monina arevalo zenarosa and justice myrna dimaranan vidal were born in 1939.   zenarosa took up law in ust and feu, vidal in feu.  both are turning 70 and retiring this year.    hmm, formative years right smack during the japanese occupation and the liberation.   general douglas macarthur must be one of their icons.

justice remedios salazar fernando is a different story.   born in 1953, studied law in ateneo, so far she has been quite popular with post-EDSA administrations and has been having quite a rising career.

She was named Chairman of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board in July 1987 where she concurrently held directorship posts at the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA)and the Office of Transport Cooperatives. In the latter part of 1991, she held the position of Officer-in-Charge/Assistant Secretary of the Land Transportation Office in a concurrent capacity.

In 1992, she was appointed Commissioner of the COMELEC. On May 21, 1999, she was appointed Associate Justice of the Court of Appeals, being one of the youngest to have been appointed to the position. She received several awards from both private and public sectors, such as Ten Outstanding Young Men given by the Jerry Roxas Foundation, Most Outstanding Capampangan, Woman of Distinction Award by the Soroptimist International, etc. When she retired from the COMELEC, she received an Award for Outstanding Service from the Senate of the Philippines.

i bet she has a moist eye on the supreme court.   i suppose this subic rape case decision is in aid of that?   how sad, specially for a baby boomer whose generation birthed the women’s movement for equal rights.

by the way, if you’re one of those who don’t feel competent to judge for themselves whether what smith did to nicole was rape or not because transcripts of the trial have not been released, so you’re willing to give the three  justices the benefit of the doubt, they must know what they’re talking about, you’re taking their word for it, smith is innocent, well you might want to make tambay sa subicrapecase website’s summary of  court proceedings.   it was rape.