Morong 43 pushes court to act on their case against Arroyo
By RONALYN V. OLEA
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – Health workers who sued former president Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo for human rights violations are dismayed at what they
described as the slow pace of the local court handling the case.
Six of the Morong 43,
or the 43 health workers arrested on February 6, 2010 and detained for
ten months for trumped up charges, trooped to the Quezon City Hall of
Justice this morning calling on the Regional Trial Court Branch 226 to
act on the first case filed against Mrs. Arroyo and her key military
officials.
Filed in April this year, the P15-million ($348 thousand) damage suit
seeks five causes of action against the former president and her
officials involved in the case. These include damages for torture,
damages for the violation of their constitutional and statutory rights,
including their right against arbitrary and illegal detention, right
against self-incrimination and right to counsel, divestment of personal
belongings, Arroyo’s neglect of duty, and moral damages.
Through their counsels from the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers
(NUPL), the complainants filed a second motion to resolve their petition
for the writ of preliminary attachment, a supplemental motion to the
civil case. A writ of preliminary attachment can be issued against the
property of a defendant to serve as security for the satisfaction of any
judgment that may be recovered; and that after due hearing on the
principal cause of this action, judgment will be rendered against the
defendant.
The lawyers were surprised to know that the court has already issued a
resolution on Sept. 30 denying their petition. Ephraim Cortez, one of
the lawyers, said they have not received an official copy of the court’s
resolution until this day. He said the court officials said they have
sent the copy through snail mail on Oct. 18. The lawyers were furnished a
photocopy of the resolution but they filed the second motion to resolve
the petition any way.
The local court has not yet issued summons to Arroyo and other
defendants. NUPL lawyers said the court asked them additional copies of
the complaint before the court could issue summons. The lawyers provided
additional copies on the same day. Cortez said the summons should be
served immediately.
Dr.
Merry Mia-Clamor and Gary Liberal, two of the Morong 43, demand the
prosecution of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in a rally outside the Quezon
City Hall of Justice, Nov. 28. (Photo by Ronalyn V. Olea / bulatlat.com) In denying the petition for writ of preliminary attachment, Judge Ma. Luisa Quijano-Padilla of the RTC Branch 226 said that “mere suspicion that there is a possibility of flight by the defendants to avoid any liability is not sufficient for a writ of preliminary attachment to be issued.”
The resolution was issued before Mrs. Arroyo’s recent attempts to leave the country.
In their second motion, the lawyers of the Morong 43 argued that the recent events bolstered their clients’s claim as shown by the attempt of Mrs. Arroyo to fly out of the country, under the guise that she will seek medical treatment abroad for what is now admitted as a non-life-threatening ailment.
“Arroyo’s attempts to leave the country only show her deliberate intent to evade justice,” Roneo Clamor, secretary general of Karapatan and husband of Dr. Mia-Clamor, said. “She wants to evade the charges filed against her, including the damage suit filed by the Morong 43.”
Cortez explained that the denial of the motion for writ of preliminary attachment has no implications whatsoever to the main case, the civil suit filed against Arroyo and her top military officials. “The writ of preliminary attachment is only a provisional remedy. The merits [of the main case] are not affected,” the human rights lawyer said..... MORE
Source: Bulatlat.com
URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/11/28/morong-43-pushes-court-to-act-on-their-case-against-arroyo/
1 comment
isa pa itong dapat habulin kay gloria dorobo. for damages nga lang pero para mabawasan naman ang ninakaw na yaman ng ilehitimong EDSA 2 "President"
"Filed in April this year, the P15-million ($348 thousand) damage suit seeks five causes of action against the former president and her officials involved in the case. These include damages for torture, damages for the violation of their constitutional and statutory rights, including their right against arbitrary and illegal detention, right against self-incrimination and right to counsel, divestment of personal belongings, Arroyo’s neglect of duty, and moral damages."
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