Kiram 'followers' are poor, old, and sick, PAO tells Tawi-Tawi court in bail plea

Insisting they are all "penniless," the 38 alleged supporters of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III who were intercepted several weeks ago off Tawi-Tawi has asked a local court in the island province to reduce what they said is an "excessive" bail requirement.

 

In a supplemental motion for the reduction of bail, a copy of which GMA News Online acquired on Holy Friday, the accused individuals, through the Public Attorney's Office, asked for a "little consideration" from the Tawi-Tawi court hearing their case, stressing that aside from being jobless, some of the accused are already old and suffering from poor health.

 

"The accused in the above-entitled cases are suffering from poverty and have no income. Literally they are penniless," the PAO said.

 

Bail was earlier pegged at P30,000 per individual.

 

"One of them is more than 70 years old and there is one old woman among the accused. Most of them are suffering from illnesses and malnutrition, and one is injured," the PAO also said, adding that some of them even need medical attention.

 

The supplemental motion was filed after the Tawi-Tawi court earlier required the PAO to submit a justification for the accused's request to reduce bail.

 

The 38 accused were earlier charged with illegal possession of firearms and ammunitions in violation of Presidential Decree 1866.

 

They were also charged with violation of the election gun ban; and inciting to war or giving motives for reprisals as prescribed under Article 118 of the Revised Penal Code.

 

In their initial request, the accused originally asked the court to reduce the bail to just P3,000 (P1,000 per charge), saying they were all jobless.

 

In their supplememtal request, the PAO said the accused was now amenable to having the bail reduced "at the most" to P9,000 (P3,000 per charge), an amount that though still excessive was nevertheless "reasonable."

 

The PAO assured that its clients are not flight risks and have no prior criminal records nor are they fugitives.

 

"The accused have no intention of avoiding the Criminal charges filed against them. In fact it was the accused that signaled the Philippine Navy boat to approach them for rescue.  The accused submitted themselves to the government authorities voluntarily. Thus, if bail is reduced to the amount prayed for, flight or jumping bail is far fetch(ed)," the PAO said.

 

The accused claimed they were merely victims of the Sabah conflict and were "ordinary citizens and laborers who went to foreign lands hoping for decent means of livelihood to feed  families back home."

 

The PAO also claimed that slashing the bail required for the accused's temporary freedom would benefit not only them but also the government.

 

"Reducing the amount of bail to a reasonable and affordable amount would effectively be beneficial to the government as it would save the government of its resources and manpower to provide for the accommodation and to feed the 38 accused," the PAO said.  — ELR, GMA News

 

The PAO stressed the court is not bound by the bail recommended by the prosecution based on the latter's bail guidelines.

 

"The Court is given wide latitude of discretion in fixing the amount of bail by taking into consideration the criteria mentioned (in Section 6, Rule 114 in the Rules in Criminal Procedure)," the PAO said.

 

Among the criteria to be considered are an accused individuals's financial ability of the accused to give bail, the nature and circumstances of the offense, his character and reputation, his age and health, and probability of the accused appearing in trial.

 

The PAO noted the particular section in the rules that state that: "Excessive bail shall not be required."

 

The defense also took the opportunity to contest the charges against the accused, describing the complaint as "evidently defective."

 

The PAO said out of all 38 accused, only 12 firearms were allegedly confiscated, some ammunition, and "irrelevant pieces of materials."

 

"The records of the case does not show who possessed what. It does not also show what particular unlawful or prohibited acts the accused committed that could constitute the crime of Inciting to war or Giving Motives for Reprisals as defined in Art. 118 of the Revised Penal Code," the PAO said.

 

The Philippine Navy intercepted the individuals two weeks ago with a cache of firearms after supposedly fleeing Sabah, where clashes had erupted since March 1 due to Kiram's followers attempt to reclaim the disputed territory.

 

The Navy intercepted Kiram's followers on two separate boats: one off the waters of Omapoy Island, and the other off the waters of Andulingan Island, both in Tawi-Tawi. They were detained at Panglima Sugala in Tawi-Tawi.

 

Kiram's camp had earlier said that not all those arrested were followers of the sultan.

 

The Tawi-Tawi court had earlier ordered the Department of Justice to re-investigate the case and subject the accused to a preliminary investigation, for which Justice Secretary Leila de Lima had already created a panel in Manila.  — ELR, GMA News