UP lawyer: Gov't execs insulted court in allowing Smith transfer

A legal expert from the University of the Philippines (UP) on Tuesday scored government lawyers for their "blatant contempt" of court, chiding them for cting in haste to transfer a convicted American rapist to United States custody. Lawyer Harry Roque - an intervenor in the legal case of former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn 'Joc-joc' Bolante in the US - said government officials tried to shortcut the process by going straight to the the Court of Appeals even before the Makati court ruled on the custody issue. Interviewed over dzBB radio, Roque wondered why the Philippine government initiated the moves, when the convicted offender in the Subic rape case is an American citizen. "That's the reason why there was contempt, because the government itself was the one who took the case before the appellate court, and that's where they asked for a temporary restraining order to transfer [Lance Corporal Daniel] Smith to the Americans," said Roque, director of the UP Institute of International Legal Studies (IILS). He noted in Filipino that, "They were the ones who went to the Court of Appeals but they were the ones who did not follow its processes. Since they went to the CA, they should have waited for it to render a decision on the custody issue." As this developed, Roque said the 23-year-old victim (Nicole) in the Subic rape case was already preparing to file the contempt charges against government lawyers before the Court of Appeals. He said Nicole was "signing the complaint as we speak (past 9 p.m.)" Lawyer Evalyn Ursua, private counsel for Nicole, said in earlier interviews that Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez and Presidential Chief Legal Counsel Sergio Apostol should be held liable for allowing Smith's transfer without clearance from the court. The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), through the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), authorized the transfer on Saturday night. Judge Benjamin Pozon of the Makati regional trial court-Branch 139 sided with the Nicole camp, denying the transfer request despite an agreement signed by US Ambassador Kristie Kenney and Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo. Citing provisions of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), the governments of America and Philippines have insisted that American offenders should be left under US custody until a final decision is rendered by the Supreme Court. However, Roque said this interpretation of the Philippines' obligation was not enough ground to purportedly encroach upon the authority of the court. "The issue here is not about the VFA. There is an unresolved issue about its construction, aside from its constitutional infirmities," he said in Filipino. Roque noted that the "debate" hinged on the issue of the judicial proceedings on whether or not custody over an American should include at the appeals process. Ursua had insisted that the judicial proceedings stated under the VFA ended when Smith was sentenced to 40 years imprisonment last December 4. "I think there is really a valid issue of disagreement on the consturction that the court would hopefully resolve," Roque said. He also chided Apostol and Palace officials for warning Ursua that she could be disbarred for ignorance of the law. "I'm certain that somebody should be disbarred here, and it's not Evalyn Ursua," Roque said. He added that, "Questions have to be raised on who are the ones who should stay as lawyers because what they (government) did was in contempt of court. But it's not just contempt, this is one way how our nation would lose its trust in our legal processes." The UP professor has filed an amicus brief before a Chicago court seeking to prevent Bolante, the purported mastermind of the P728-million fertilizer scam, from seeking refuge in the United States. - GMANews.TV