Legazpi court bars Daraga Mayor Baldo from traveling abroad

A regional trial court in Legazpi City, Albay has issued an order barring Daraga Mayor Carlwyn Baldo from traveling overseas while he is being investigated for the murder of Ako-Bicol party-list Representative Rodel Batocabe.

The Department of Justice has been informed that the court has issued a precautionary hold departure order (PHDO) against Baldo, Justice Undersecretary and spokesman Markk Perete said Friday.

Baldo, the alleged mastermind in the killing of Batocabe, was arrested for illegal possession of firearms this week. He is a respondent in a murder complaint over the incident that is currently under preliminary investigation.

The congressman and his bodyguard, Senior Police Officer 1 Orlando Diaz, were killed in a gun attack as they were about to leave a gift-giving event in Barangay Burgos, Daraga, last December 22.

A PHDO is a court order that bars a person suspected of a crime from leaving the country. It is different from a hold departure order, which is issued against a person already charged in court.

The Supreme Court promulgated rules on the issuance of PHDOs last year, months after it struck down the Secretary of Justice's authority to issue travel ban orders, including HDOs.

The Albay provincial prosecutor's office applied for a PHDO against Baldo and five other personalities named in the murder complaint last January 7, Perete said.

The DOJ initially ordered the Bureau of Immigration to monitor Baldo's attempts, if any, to leave the country. — RSJ, GMA News