SC order makes IBP exec, pols nervous

By NITZ ARANCON
Correspondent

THE head of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) here and Cagayan de Oro and Misamis Oriental officials yesterday sounded alarm bells over a Supreme Court order to make courts in the city hear cases against Maute group suspects and pleadings pertaining to the anti-terror law.

On Tuesday, the high tribunal tasked the Regional Trial Court (RTC) here to handle all cases against suspected Maute Group members. It said all pleadings pertaining to the RA 9372, otherwise known as the Human Security Act, would be handled by the Court of Appeals-Mindanao station here.

The SC also ordered that all arrested Maute Group suspects be brought to Camp Evangelista for detention. The military camp in Patag is the seat of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division.

Lawyer Eddie Cuaresma, president of the IBP chapter in Misamis Oriental and Cagayan de Oro, said the SC order would make the city susceptible to terrorism.

Cuaresma said it would also expose the city’s judges, prosecutors, lawyers and litigants to great dangers.

He pointed out that the city lost its Hall of Justice to a fire in 2014, and the government has yet to build a new one.

“Mag-hearing man gani kami sa mga kaso karon diha ra sa bus. Ang uban bisag asa na lang nga bakanting  room sa city hall. Kon dinhi i-hearing ang mga kaso sa Maute, asa man sila ibutang?” Cuaresma asked rhetorically.

He expressed fears that the sorry state of the local courts would make it easy for the Maute Group to carry out a rescue of its arrested members.

“Dako ang posibilidad nga  iescue sila sa ilang mga kauban, na, magka gobot ta niana dinhi,” Cuaresma said.

He said the IBP board here would look into the possibility of a resolution to appeal to the SC to reconsider, and instead make courts in Manila hear the Maute cases.

Councilor Romeo Calizo, chairman of the city council’s committee on police and public safety, said there was nothing city hall could do with the SC decision but he agreed that it would make the city face great risks.

“Delikado gyud ang atong siguridad kon dili ta  mag-andam,” he said.

Calizo said he would look into the possibility of the city council passing a resolution to ask the SC to take back the order so that the cases could be heard elsewhere. But he said he would still look into the “protocols” if this can be done by the city’s legislature.

“Di man sab puwede magpataka lang tag sponsor ug resolution kay mora man gi-accept na nato da-an nga dili nato kaya nga mo-take ug responsibility bahin nia-a,” Calizo said.

Misamis Oriental Vice Gov. Jose Mari Peleaz,  who chairs the provincial board’s committee on peace and order,  said the SC order made him “uncomfortable.”

Pelaez said there were other courts outside Cagayan de Oro that can hear the Maute cases.

He said the provincial board would wait for city hall’s official response and move pertaining to the SC order.

But Pelaez said there was nothing local governments can do if the SC stands firm on its order. “We can only express our disagreement with that  decision,” he said.

“We have to wait for the action of the city government of Cagayan  de Oro. And we will follow them kon unsa ang ilang action,” Pelaez said.

The 4th Infantry Division can handle the security and the detention of the arrested Maute Group suspects, assured Capt. Joe Patrick Martinez, Camp Evangelista spokesman.

Martinez however said Camp Evangelista has yet to receive an official order from Camp Aguinaldo in relation of the SC directive.

“Kon makadawat na kamig directive gikan sa ta-as, unya dinhi gyud i-detain sa Camp Evangelista ang mga suspected terrorists, ah, walay problema na,” Martinez said.