In a two-page notice of resolution, the high tribunal’s First Division granted the request made by Prosecutor General Claro Arellano to transfer the trial venue from the Regional Trial Court Branch 61 in Gumaca, Quezon to the Manila RTC.
Arellano also argued that the “climate in Gumaca is not conducive to the holding of trial as the witnesses, as well as the accused, are vulnerable to threats from extremists in the area, considering the political and economic status of the personalities involved in these cases, and the geographical location of the said municipality.”
They have since pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Aside from changing the trial venue, the high court also authorized the executive judge of the Manila RTC to raffle the case and ordered the jusge that will be handling the case “to proceed with the trial and hearing thereof and to decide the same with dispatch.”
For her part, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima welcomed the SC resolution and directed the handling prosecutors to ensure the speedy handling of the case and “to resist dilatory maneuvers from the accused’s end.”
The criminal charges were filed by the families of the 13 victims who were gunned down at a checkpoint by a joint force from the local police and military. The families filed the charges with the help of the National Bureau of Investigation, which initially probed the incident.
In its investigation report, the NBI said there was no indication that the implicated government forces “desisted or prevented their group from shooting the victims” even if one of them was already raising his hands in surrender.
Apart from violation of Article 247 (Murder) of the Revised Penal Code, nine of the implicated men were seperately charged for violation of Presidential Decree No. 1829 (Obstruction of Justice).
The complainants said what Marantan’s group carried out on that day was not a checkpoint operation but a “dragnet,” and that no one from the implicated individuals tried intervening, showing a “concerted effort to perpetuate the commission of the crime.” — RSJ, GMA News
