MANHUNT for Duterte appointee former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Gerald Bantag should resume following the Court of Appeals (CA) decision to junk the petition seeking to nullify the filing of a murder case filed by state prosecutors for the death of a hard-hitting broadcast journalist.
In its four-page decision, CA maintained the arrest warrants issued by Las Piñas Regional Trial Court in view of prima facie evidence dragging the elusive Bantag in the killing of Percy Lapid on October 3, 2022.
Bantag had also been charged before the Muntinlupa City RTC with murder for the killing on Oct, 18, 2022 of person deprived of liberty (PDL) Cristito Villamor Palana who conspired and planned the ambush.
Bantag, who has remained at large, earlier sought the dismissal of the murder case and the lifting of the arrest order issued against him, even as he claimed neither the DOJ nor the Las Piñas RTC has jurisdiction over the cases which involved him in his capacity as then BuCor director.
According to the CA, Bantag’s petition was dismissed on the ground that filing was not in accordance with the existing procedural rules. CA further noted that Bantag’s petition likewise lacked the concurrence of the Office of the Solicitor General.
The CA resolution was penned by Associate Justice Ronaldo Roberto B. Martin and concurred in by Associate Justices Fernanda Lampas Peralta and Alfonso C. Ruiz II.
Citing a ruling of the Supreme Court (SC), the CA said: “In any criminal case or proceeding, only the OSG may bring or defend actions on behalf of the Republic of the Philippines, or represent the People or State before the SC and the CA.”
“This is explicitly provided under Section 35(1), Chapter 12, Title III, Book III of the 1987 Administrative Code of the Philippines,” it said.
It also pointed out: “More significantly, in the Manual for Prosecutors, Sections 12.5 and 12.6, Chapter XII thereof requires that all requests to file petition for certiorari shall be first coursed through the office of the prosecutor general for evaluation and approval prior to endorsement to the OSG.”
“The said procedure along with the non-conformity of the OSG on the filing of instant petition for certiorari calls for the outright dismissal of the petition,” the CA ruled. (ANGEL F. JOSE)
