PBA superstar in bigamy case posts bail

Former Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Most Valuable Player Kenneth Duremdes has posted bail for his temporary liberty over a bigamy case filed by his wife, GMANews.TV learned Tuesday. The high-scoring guard of the Sta. Lucia Realty team, Duremdes posted a bail of P24,000 Monday afternoon before the sala of Quezon City regional trial court branch 215 Judge Ma. Luisa Padilla to avoid being served a warrant of arrest. His case stemmed from a complaint of his wife, Vanessa Carriaga, who accused Duremdes of entering into another marriage even as theirs is still in effect. In her complaint, Carriaga said she and Duremdes got married on Sept. 6, 1993 in Manila City Hall before Rev. Jesus Mesa. She later learned that Duremdes contracted a second marriage to a certain Teresa on August 15, 1996 in Quezon City. Carriaga was able to secure a certification from the National Statistics Office (NSO) showing that Duremdes contracted marriage on Sept. 16, 1993 and the second was on Aug. 15, 1996. In his counter-affidavit during the preliminary investigation of the case, Duremdes admitted that Carriaga was her girlfriend while he still studying at Adamson University in 1993 but their relationship ended the same year. Duremdes denied having married Carriaga before Rev. Mesa and that he did not sign any marriage contract. But in his resolution, Assistant City Prosecutor Gibson Araula Jr ruled that the evidence on record is sufficient to indict the respondent for bigamy. “The complainant has sufficiently presented evidence to show that Duremdes contracted the second and subsequent marriage to a certain Teresa on Aug. 15, 1996 despite the existence of his marriage with the complainant," Araula said in his resolution. Araula further stressed that the arguments of respondent are matters of defense which is best left to the court to decide. The court set the arraignment of Duremdes on September 26 at 8:30 a.m. -GMANews.TV