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By Nora Soriño,
Correspondent

ILIGAN City — A lawyer of detained mayor Celso Regencia revealed over the weekend that there is an attempt to have the embattled mayor pulled out of the Bureau of Jail Management at Tipanoy, this city, anew.

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Voltaire Rovira, a lawyer for the mayor said this was revealed during the hearing before the Branch 44-Regional Trial Court at the Initao, Misamis Oriental, presided over by Judge Marissa Estabaya.

He said that this order is “illegal” as this was the same as that of the April 11 order. To recall, said order was not implemented since the mayor’s supporters trooped to the city jail and prevented the guards from Misamis Oriental Provincial Jail from executing the court’s order.

Rovira said in said order it was directed the Special Action Force of the police , the National Bureau of Investigation and the army, “to assist the BJMP (Bureau of Jail Management and Penology) in the implementation” of the order.

Rovira said if the army, police or NBI insisted and not only “assisted” they would be liable for “kidnapping.”

He claimed that they the lawyers did not reveal these matters earlier, so that the order could not be amended anymore.

He said most of the motions submitted to Esta-baya were denied. Among the motions, he said was for the judge to inhibit as she had “biases” but she insisted to hear the case anyway. Should they present another order, Rovira said that this is all the more “illegal” as they have no copy of said order and the law provides that due process should be given to everybody. It is barely a month before elections, so why the hurry now, Rovira asked.

Earlier, another Regencia lawyer, Leo Zaragoza said that they are desperate to have the mayor pulled out from the city.

Supporters then are expected to gather at the grounds of said jail as early as sunday evening. “We must not drop be over confident and not drop our guard,” Rovira said.

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