CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (MindaNews/05 May) — The City Prosecutor’s Office has been drawing flak from residents and advocacy groups here after news of its decision dismissing the complaint filed by a local television crew against Barangay Tuburan Councilman Ray Obsioma Yañez for alleged grave threats was made public through the popular social networking site, Facebook.
Nef Abdul Malik Luczon, GMA 12-Cagayan de Oro field reporter and “Ang Isyu Karon” anchor on Thursday posted in various Facebook group pages the decision of the City Prosecutor’s Office dismissing their case against Yañez.
Advocacy groups and media organizations have since then expressed support to the crew’s quest to hold Yañez accountable for allegedly threatening their lives while they were investigating suspected mining and quarrying operations during a post Sendong coverage in a hinterland barangay here on February 1.
“Personally, though the resolution was quite odd, it was not surprising. At some point, I knew it (would) come (to) this and I hope the legal department will file a motion of reconsideration soon,” Luczon said.
“I thank all those who expressed their support because (this) is not just (the network’s or my) ‘struggle’ per se. (This) is actually (for) all of us who will be affected if this kind of culture will continue,” he added.
“The consolation about this decision was that somehow, nakita na sa public ang nawong sa sistema sa atong syudad, if not, the system of our nation,” said Luczon.
In a three-page decision dated 2 April 2012, a copy of which was received by Luczon only last week, Prosecutor Julieta Buhat-Piloton said the incident occurred in a public place and in the presence of other persons “hence ordinary human experience dictates that no one would dare commit a crime such as slapping someone with a burak at the risk of being readily implicated because of the presence of possible witnesses.”
Save CdO Movement—a group of local residents who started a virtual forum for survivors of tropical storm Sendong on Facebook—reiterated their “indignation at such ignorance of the law and jurisprudence.”
Tito Noel Mora, spokesperson of Save CdO Movement said he was stunned at how the prosecutor justified the dismissal of the case.
“We will conduct a press conference on Wednesday (May 9), 2 pm at the Press Freedom Monument. We will be securing a permit (for the event) from the Provincial Capitol on Monday,” he said.
On Saturday, Nixon Baban, member of the Junior Chamber International (JCI) Senate of this city and Bangon Kagay-an, an advocacy group on Facebook, said the prosecutor’s view that the presence of possible witnesses will deter the commission of homicide or serious physical injury is “bizarre and objectionable.”
“I may not be a lawyer but.. I know what grave threat means. Nef Luczon was in a remote village in Tuburan with most folks sympathetic to the ongoing mining activities. To my mind, if not for the presence of the TV cameras and their service vehicle that served as deterrents, the crimes of homicide or serious physical injuries against the courageous TV broadcaster and his crewmen (sic) would have been carried out,” Baban’s Facebook post reads.
He cited a Supreme Court ruling — GR No. 181626 (Paera vx. People of the Philippines) promulgated on May 30, 2011—that upheld a “Regional Trial Court’s decision that found village chair Santiago Paera of Mambas, Bangcong, Negros Oriental guilty for three counts of Grave Threats, in violation of Article 282 of the Revised Penal Code.”
“The SC found no Justifying Circumstances attending Paera’s Commission of Grave Threats despite his position as punong barangay on the persistent water tapping which must have angered and triggered Paera’s criminal behavior as there was no (1) unlawful aggression on the part of the victims; (2) reasonable necessity of the means employed to prevent or repel it; and (3) absence of evil motives such as revenge and resentment. Furthermore, four other eyewitnesses testified in favor of the victims,” Baban quoted the High Tribunal’s decision.
“Bangon Kagay-an deplores in strong terms this unbalanced resolution of the Honorable Prosecutor Piloton and joins civil society in support of the GMA-7 TV Crew in their continued quest for justice. A motion for reconsideration is in order or if denied, to file a verified petition for review with the Secretary of Justice within 15 days from the receipt of the denial (sic),” Baban’s Facebook post reads.
One of Pulso sa Kagay-an’s group administrator, Rolly James Esling, said Yañez is widely known in his barangay to be a “toughie” and a “bully.”
“I condemn the acts of Kag. Yañez against the GMA 12 TV crew,” said Esling.
Group member Arnold Abelardo posted on Pulso sa Kagay-an Wall: “A threat is a threat, wherever it happened. The more the Prosecutor’s Office should consider the case because there were witnesses who saw and heard the threat of a councilor to a journalist. Ka klaro atong video…Buta na, gago pa.”
In its statement dated May 4, the local chapter of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) condemned the resolution. “We deplore the fact that our struggle to put an end to impunity, in all forms has been cut-short even at the fiscal’s level,” it said.
“How can we—as a ‘pillar of individual rights—advance civil liberties and human rights when we, ourselves, can be silenced through threats, intimidation and harassments,” it added.
The NUJP also said it will raise the matter to Secretary Leila De Lima of the Department of Justice to order the Regional State Prosecutor’s Office to review the decision. (Cong Corrales/MindaNews)