No Double-Jeopardy: De Lima can re-file case vs. Duterte

By MORTZ C. ORTIGOZA

Controversial Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte

Hindi ko maintindihan itong end game ng China, iisa lang ang aircraft carrier na obsolete pa (from Ukraine) versus 11 big carriers from the United States. Tapos more than 1000 kilometers ang layo ng Mainland China sa Spratly, so for me it would be expensive sa mga fighter jets nila because of the lengthy flight .

 It would be deja vu Lufwaffee (German Airforce) whose jets became shooting ducks from Great Britain's airplanes in World War 11 since they have to have that hair raising trips sa English Channel. Or Falkland War  in 1982 like those U.S made A-4 Sky Hawk jets ng Argentina obliterated on the air by the British Harrier jump jets. Kung nuclear war, sigurado matutunaw ang Mainland China and ma preserve ang U.S mainland kasi wala pang capability ang China to launch her Inter Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM) to the U.S. But people in Palawan and Pangasinan and even in Australia are vulnerable to the Chinese nuclear capable Russian made Xian H-6K jet bombers that could kill all if not most of the people in these areas.

Son of a gun, calling for the Aegis' Anti Ballistic Missiles Defense System on warships and anti- warheads Patriot missiles of the Americans!

***

After Presidential material Senator Grace Poe breathes like an albatross at the back of the neck of controversial presidential wannabe Vice President Jojo Binay as based on Poe’s phenomenal survey spikes, the Binay’s camp had been witch hunting Poe as not qualified to become a candidate for the No.1 Office. Their arguments anchored on the senator renouncing her Filipino citizenship by becoming a U.S citizen before thus he disenfranchised herself to become a natural born citizen. 

 Natural born is a requirement if ones run for Congress, Vice Presidency, and the Presidency.
While Cesarean Born, er, Naturalized Citizen are for those who want to run for the elective  posts in the local government units. 

But Poe’s supporters had been citing then Pangasinan Congressman Teddy Cruz, best friend of my media colleague Harold “The Bagman” Barcelona, Case to thwart the arguments of Poe’s critics.

The case of then Congressman Teodoro Cruz, a former U.S Marine, however was covered by Commonwealth Act No. 63 when he lost and acquired his natural born citizenship thus he remained a congressman. Cruz’s argument, after he was petitioned by his congressional rival Antonio Bengzon III, was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2001.

 Grace Poe does not have to worry about being "Natural Born" to qualify for Congress and the Presidency. She was already covered in year 2003 by Republic Act 9225 (An Act Making the Citizenship of Philippine Citizens Who Acquire Foreign Citizenship Permanent). It was the same law being quoted by many former foreign citizen Filipinos who were mayoralty and gubernatorial bets in the 2010 and 2013 elections.

The law says in  Section 3: “ Retention of Philippine Citizenship - Any provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding, natural-born citizenship by reason of their naturalization as citizens of a foreign country are hereby deemed to have re-acquired Philippine citizenship upon taking the following oath of allegiance to the Republic:

"I _____________________, solemny swear (or affrim) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines and obey the laws and legal orders promulgated by the duly constituted authorities of the Philippines; and I hereby declare that I recognize and accept the supreme authority of the Philippines and will maintain true faith and allegiance thereto; and that I imposed this obligation upon myself voluntarily without mental reservation or purpose of evasion.”

***

Whenever I am in the cities of Davao, Iloilo, Baguio, and Cebu I see to it I bought all the local newspaper there for comparison with the almost 30 Pangasinan based tabloids that include the fly-by-nights that rear their ugly heads and revolting English grammars whenever election is around the corner.

I compare too how the columnists there fare with the opinion writers in one of the biggest provinces in the Philippines.

In my “lightning’ visit in Davao City and Cotabato province last Tuesday afternoon (where I rode shot gun the following Wednesday in a car and the plane to catch my son’s college graduation at the University of Sto. Thomas in Manila) I bought last Wednesday copies of Sun Star – Davao City, Mindanao Times, Daily Mirror, and Edge Davao.

At Sun Star a columnist there Jun Ledesma said that Justice Secretary Leila de Lima could not re-file the murder charge she filed years ago when she was the Commissioner of the Commission of Human Rights to Davao City Mayor Rod Duterte without courting Double-Jeopardy.

I nearly fell from my airplane’s seat upon reading the news excerpt when I was 30,000 feet above Cebu City.

De Lima became gung ho again to file the case after Duterte acknowledged lately he is the Davao Death Squad responsible for the one thousand extra judicial killings of “habitual delinquents” in the Durian City.

“If I remember it right, the Regional Trial Court of Manila, where she filed the charges against Duterte, threw out the pieces of evidence that she and her special probe team of investigators presented to the Court. As CHR Chair, De Lima personally led the probe team and summoned not only Mayor Duterte but every Tom-Dick-and-Harry they thought they can grill and extract information,“ the columnist opined.

Ledesma continued: “Double jeopardy is actually a serious crime therefore that places De Lima and Duterte in the same predicament. Duterte can laugh his way to court but I cannot say the same thing for the Secretary”

The columnist is dead wrong of course. Double Jeopardy, according to the Supreme Court in People v. Ylagan 958 Phil. 851 (1933), attaches if  these three requisites are included: (a) upon a good indictment, (b) before a competent court, (c) after arraignment, (d) after plea.

When the RTC in Manila dismissed de Lima case it dismissed it not after Duterte underwent arraignment and plead “not guilty” but dismissed it due to lack of probable cause.

Ibig sabihin mahina ang ebidensiya o walang ebidensiya to directly link the mayor to the killings.

***

 Anyway, we have media men here too that shot from the hips.

I have a columnist friend who told a criminal charges hounded city mayor that after he was re-elected at his second term all his criminal charges have been extinguished.

I ribbed him and whispered to him that he was wrong because those cases are covered by the Doctrine of Condonation, yes Virginia that controversial Aguinaldo Doctrine, apply only to his administrative cases.

But son of a gun, after hearing the legal advice of my pal, the mayor frantically called and bad  mouthed his lawyers telling them they were all idiots  after he paid them handsomely they kept advising him that the criminal cases were not covered by the Doctrine.

“My media dito na law graduate, sabi niya kasali pala sa Doctrine of Condonation ang criminal charges!”

If we were on that interview inside the jet plane bound from Davao City to Manila I probably fell outside the door and tailspin 30,000 feet on the ground of Mt. Timbukto and be damned.

(You can read my selected columns at http://mortzortigoza.blogspot.com and articles at Pangasinan News Aro. You can send comments too at totomortz@yahoo.com)