CA won't dismiss bigamy case vs PBA cager

MANILA, Philippines - Air21 forward Arwind Santos will still have to face bigamy, child abandonment, and financial support cases filed in 2006 against him by his wife, Karyn Maye, after the Court of Appeals denied on Tuesday his petition to have them dismissed. The Batangas City Regional Trial Court (RTC), where the cases were filed, had denied motion by Santos to have the charges dismissed. Santos then filed a petition to the Court of Appeals, saying that the RTC gravely abused its authority in denying his motion because it had no jurisdiction over the charges. But in a 16-page decision, Associated Justice Ramon Garcia of the CA's 12th Division affirmed the lower court's jurisdiction. Based on records of the case, Santos married Karyn in September 2005, when he was still a player of the Philippine Basketball League. Four months later, his wife gave birth to their first child. On January 7, 2006, or barely a month after their child's birth, Santos left their conjugal home in Manila and later lived with another woman who was already four months pregnant. In her complaint, Karyn said Santos continued to refuse to provide assistance for her and their child, despite his ability to do so, having just been drafted to the PBA under Air21 Express. Without her husband's support, Karyn said she could no longer pay the monthly rentals of their apartment nor support herself and their child's basic needs – so she and her child were forced to move to her parents' house in Batangas City. On October 3, 2006, she filed a criminal complaint against Santos for abandonment at the Office of the Batangas City Prosecutor's Office, which on December 29 of the same year found probable cause against Santos. The RTC then scheduled Santos' arraignment. But Santos filed a motion to quash the criminal information against him and to defer the arraignment and the proceedings on the ground that the trial court has no jurisdiction over the alleged offense. Santos alleged that the city prosecutor has no authority to sign the information for lack of territorial jurisdiction, nor was there prima facie evidence to establish the offense charged. But the RTC ruled that it had jurisdiction of the case because the abandonment continued up to the time that Karyn and their child were living with her parents. The Batangas City Regional Trial Court to quash the criminal charges filed against him for violation of the Republic Act 7610, or the the Special Protection of Children against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act. Under RA 7610, any person found guilty of child neglect, abuse or cruelty will imprisoned for six years and one day to 12 years. Santos' wife also charged him with violation of RA 9262, known as the Anti-Violence against Women and their Children Act of 2004, for living with another woman, whom he also got pregnant. She likewise filed a civil case for financial support but these are still pending with the RTC. - GMANews.TV