Lawyers say councilman’s arrest had no legal basis

Lawyers of Labangon, Cebu City barangay councilman Rodolfo Tabasa have claimed that his arrest for failing to return a City Hall-issued vehicle had no legal basis.

Such claim was included in Tabasa's comment to the motion for reconsideration and cancellation of recognizance release filed by the city government against Tabasa.

"It is elementary that a person who is criminally charged and arraigned could be released in recognizance while in detention, how much more in the Petitioner's case where he was unlawfully kept in detention without any cause," Tabasa's lawyers said.

The legal counsels of Tabasa are headed by lawyer and City Councilor Jose Daluz III and lawyer Francisco Amit Jr.

They also said that those who arrested Tabasa are not officials of the Cebu City government.

"The Movants are employees of the Cebu City Government. They are not department heads, division chiefs or elected officials of the Cebu City Government.Yet they were represented no less by four (4) of the lawyers from the Cebu City Legal Office professing to be under the instruction or by authority of the Acting Mayor," the seven-page comment reads.

Tabasa was arrested last June 10 by General Services Office staff Kenneth Amar and Rafael Cabunilas who were assisted by four policemen from Cebu City Police Office.

On the same day Tabasa was detained, he was released through recognizance after Municipal Trial Court in Cities Judge Pamela Baring-Uy said there was no complaint filed at the city prosecutor's office. Through the City Legal Office, the Cebu City government filed the motion for reconsideration and cancellation of recognizance release before MTCC on June 23.

Tabasa's lawyers are hoping that the MTCC would consider their comment and deny the complainant's petitions..

O. Leyson/NSA