Cabanlas hits decision to revive case, arrest warrant vs Mulawan

By Nitz Arancon

ONE of the lawyers of Cagayan de Oro Water District (COWD) senior architectural draftsman cum whistleblower Emmanuel Mulawan Sr. yesterday said he would file a petition to assail a Cavite court’s decision to revive the rape case against his client.

Lawyer Edgar Cabanlas also said he would question the new arrest warrant issued against Mulawan by regional Judge Perla Fallar of Cavite.

Cabanlas said his options are to file a petition for certiorari before the Supreme Court or a petition for injunction before the Court of Appeals.

He questioned the regional court’s move to accept the motion for the revival of the case filed by Damasriñas prosecutor Emmanuel Rivera because Mulawan did not give his consent on the Aug. 27 provisional dismissal of the rape case.

Cabanlas explained that Section 8, Rule 117 of the Rules of Court provides that an accused needs to give his consent on the provisional dismissal of his case, and he needs to sign it.

“Kanang provisionary dismissal, na-a gyud kanay consent sa accused ug pirmahan gyud kana sa akosado,” Cabanlas said.

But in the case of Mulawan, “wala may iyang pirma, so bo-ot pasabot nga walay iyang consent nga i-dismiss provisionally ang iyang kaso. Unya nganong i-revive man sa   huwes ang maong kaso?” asked Cabanlas rhetorically.

He said the same court rule provides that without the accused’s consent, a case similar to what has been filed against Mulawan should be considered dismissed for good. –nitz arancon