Roldan posts bail, goes home to family

Actor and former Quezon City Rep. Dennis Roldan posted bail Thursday and left the Pasig City jail where he has been detained since his arrest February last year on charges of kidnapping a three-year old boy. Roldan, Mitchell Gumabao in real life, posted his P500,000 bond before 10 a.m. and left the jail premises around 10:20 a.m. accompanied by his two daughters and lawyer Sigfried Fortun. The former actor was quoted in radio reports as saying he would go straight to his house in Filinvest subdivision in Quezon City and make up to his family for the one year he was in detention. Roldan said he was elated with his release even as his lawyer expressed confidence the former actor would eventually be exonerated by the court. The family of Roldan’s alleged victim said they would appeal the decision of Judge Agnes Reyes-Carpio of Pasig regional trial court branch 261 who approved Roldan’s petition for bail. The family was also reported to seek the inhibition of Carpio, whom they claimed has shown her bias for Roldan. Carpio granted the actor’s motion for bail despite the testimonies of at least 10 prosecution witnesses who positively identified him as the mastermind of the abduction. “There is no clear proof that evidence of Mitchell Gumabao’s guilt is strong, hence, his application for bail is hereby granted," Carpio stated in her eight-page decision. She denied the petition for bail filed by five other accused - Octavio Garces, Romeo Orcajada, Adrian Domingo and couple Noel and Rowena San Andres. “It appearing that evidence of their guilt is strong, their respective bail applications should be, as they are hereby, denied," she added. Hearings on the bail petitions of Roldan and his co-accused started a year ago. Roldan and his five co-accused were detained at the Pasig City jail after their arrest on February 20, 2005 following a successful rescue of the kidnap victim in Quezon City’s Cubao district. -GMANews.TV