Bail hiked to P60k
Judge refuses to drop warrant for Matobato
MUNICIPAL Trial Court in Cities-Branch 3 Presiding Judge Silverio Mandalupe has denied the motion to recall the issuance of warrant of arrest against self-proclaimed Davao Death Squad member Edgardo Matobato and have also amended the previous warrant by imposing a P60,000 bail instead of the earlier P2,000.
Mandalupe, in an order issued yesterday, favored the opposition of the City Prosecution Office against
the motion to recall the warrant previously issued by Matobato lawyer Jude Josue Sabio, after Matobato failed to appear for his arraignment for the illegal possession of firearms case filed against him last 2014.
The order resolved two pleadings, the “extremely urgent motion to set aside warrant and the extremely urgent manifestation” dated October 10, both stating that Matobato already dismissed his counsel, Gregorio Andolana, and named Sabio as his new counsel.
In the first pleading, the accused said he was unable to attend his arraignment because he was supposed to appear in the Senate Inquiry on the day of the scheduled arraignment on October 4, 2016, but this was cancelled due to conflict of schedule.
In his second pleading, Matobato moved that no warrant be issued against him and for his bailbond to be reinstated. As earlier reported, Senator Antonio Triallnes personally turned over Matobato to PNP Chief of Police Ronald "Bato" de la Rosa in Camp Crame in Quezon City following the service of the warrant of arrest dated October 4, 2016.
The Public Prosecutor filed its opposition comment last October 10 stating that the accused failed to appear during his scheduled arraignment for nine times but of which only two settings were with legal bases and the rest had none.
"(M)ore than two years had lapsed since the arrest of the accused on June 19, 2014, but no arraignment has been done due to the reasons attributable to the absence of the accused not falling under the ground authorized in Rule 116, Section of the Criminal Procedure," the order read.
The prosecution also manifested that its office discovered by oversight that they made a mistake in recommending the amount of P2,000 as the bailbond for the violation of Section 31 of the RA 10591.
Based on the order, under the DOJ Department Circular No. 89 dated August 2000, the recommended bail for the offense of the Illegal Possession of Firearms is based on its maximum years of penalty multiplied by P10,000.
The prosecution said that since the maximum impossible penalty for this case is six years of imprisonment then the recommended bail should be P60,000. Judge Mandalupe favored the prosecution reasoning and thus denied the two motions for lack of merit and ordered that the October 4, 2016 warrant be amended to increase the bail to P60,000. Atty. Jude Josue Sabio, in a text message with Sun.Star Davao yesterday, said that due to the judge’s decision to deny Matobato’s motion to recall the warrant of arrest, they are set to file a motion to reduce bail today.
“We will post the bail and will let my client appear in court. Preparations will be made because it is urgent, his liberty is at stake,” he said.
“Proper coordination and preparation is underway for him to be brought to Davao as soon as possible,” Sabio added. KVC