Police may sue Carillo
By Jovy S. Taghoy
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
With Linette C. Ramos
FOR alleged “intervention†in the arrest of three owners of a shop that was earlier raided for reportedly selling fake whitening cream, Cebu City Councilor Gerardo Carillo is likely to face a complaint for obstruction of justice.
Chief Insp. Rex Derilo, chief of the intelligence and investigation division of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) 7, said they are consulting with Senior Supt. Jose Jorge Corpuz, CIDG 7 chief, on the legal action that will be taken against Carillo.
Carillo, legal counsel of the alleged owners of Yu Lian Marketing, one of the shops raided by the CIDG 7 last Friday afternoon, denied he intervened in the case.
Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña, in a press conference at City Hall, promised to look into the allegation.
“Right now, I can only speculate as to what happened. It is normal when somebody gets caught they look for connections, but at what point does interference come in? That’s the part that’s difficult to define, if it will prevent them from doing their jobs,†Osmeña said.
Carillo, a practising lawyer, is a member of the Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan headed by the mayor.
CIDG 7 Deputy Chief Jacob Macabali yesterday identified the owners of the shop as John Sanchez, Kejin Gy and Ben Dy.
The three were to have been arrested during the raid but Carillo allegedly called up Macabali and told the police officer that he will be the one to bring the suspects to the CIDG 7 headquarters.
Respect
Carillo allegedly promised to bring the suspects within that day.
Out of respect to the city councilor, Macabali said he agreed.
Carillo, however, failed to bring the suspects last Friday and over the weekend.
At 2 p.m. yesterday, Carillo arrived at the CIDG 7 headquarters bringing only Sanchez.
Macabali told reporters yesterday he asked Carillo where Gy and Dy were but the latter told them that Sanchez is the shop owner and the two were only visitors.
Since Carillo brought Sanchez only yesterday and the reglamentary period of filing a case against them as arrested suspects already lapsed, Mabali said they will have to lodge a complaint on regular filing.
CIDG 7 will still include Gy and Dy in the complaint.
Carillo, in a separate interview at the CIDG 7 headquarters, denied intervening in the arrest.
He said no arrest was made during the operation because the search warrant only mentioned the name of the shop and did not specify the names of the owner.
He was only told that an investigation will be made, that was why he assured the operatives that he will bring his clients to the headquarters.
Carillo said he did bring Sanchez last Friday night but the office was closed.
He went back the following day but he learned that the operatives were having a sports fest.
Carillo said he did not intervene in the operation. He admitted, though, that he went to the shop but only to explain to the owner what a search warrant was all about.
He said he did not stay long.
Carillo also explained that his representation as a legal counsel should not be misconstrued as having a conflict of interest with his being a city councilor. He only wants to uphold justice.
Fake
He said the shop owner was also a victim because he had no way of knowing that the products he was selling were fake.
Macabali said, though, that the CIDG 7 headquarters is open 24 hours.
SPO1 Delfin Bontuyan, one of the duty personnel and was designated to wait for Carillo last Friday, told reporters yesterday he waited for Carillo to arrive until Saturday morning.
Macabali said Carillo did not intervene while they were serving the search warrant.
However, after they made an inventory and was about to leave the place with the three suspects, Carillo called up one of the personnel in the shop, who passed the cellular phone to him.
Macabali said Carillo told with him he will just be the one to bring the suspects to the headquarters.
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Tomas notes irregularities in CIDG raids
By Linette C. Ramos Sun.Star Staff Reporter
Although he did not defend Cebu City Councilor Gerardo Carillo, Mayor Tomas Osmeña yesterday raised “irregularities†in the way police conducted a raid and arrested retailers of a whitening cream last Friday.
Osmeña said that despite the controversy hounding Carillo, he will encourage Cebu City officials to respond to calls for help from their constituents, because it is their responsibility to do so.
“I will not take the position that they should not respond. When somebody calls for assistance, when you’re an elected official, you should respond. That’s what elected officials are for,†he told reporters yesterday.
Osmeña said he already heard the side of Carillo, but he welcomed the fact-finding inquiry the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas will make.
The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Cebu City Chapter is stepping into the controversy.
Chapter president Alex Tolentino said he will bring up in today’s IBP board meeting the alleged intervention by Councilor Gerardo Carillo, in the arrest of his clients.
Tolentino wants to create a seven-member panel to study the case.
Lambasted
“Carillo is a member of the IBP and has been lambasted on the radio because of this, so we want to find out the truth and if there are lapses. We want to determine the parameters of interference and the legality of his presence,†he added.
Aside from the allegations of intervention, Tolentino also wants to determine the parameters of an arrested person’s right to counsel.
“Is there a prohibition on lawyers? Is a lawyer prohibited from asking questions? Is there a law prohibiting his presence during the raid? We will look more into the legality of his presence when it is required by his client,†Tolentino said.
During last Friday’s raid, Carillo allegedly called up the police and offered to escort three owners of Yu Lian Marketing to the CIDG headquarters, so they wouldn’t have to be arrested. The owners were identified as Key Jinky, Ben Dy and John Sanchez.
By Monday, only Sanchez was brought to the CIDG office.
Osmeña said, though, that apart from Carillo, the operatives of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) should also be investigated to find out what really happened during the raid.
Other people
“There were several places raided at the same time, so what happened to the other people? Did CIDG make money out of the others? I don’t know, but this one called Carillo because they were not willing to give... We know for a fact that all line agencies are corrupt, that’s a given. I’m not accusing CIDG, but they’re all bunched up in the same system,†he said.
The mayor said that even if Carillo is proven to have intervened in the operation, he will still have city officials protect their constituents from the harassment of line agencies.
He wondered why owners of the other establishments that were raided were not arrested. The mayor also said CIDG raided the wrong places and arrested the retailers without a warrant of arrest.
Carillo has asked the same questions.
Believing that his clients were singled out during the operation, the councilor will file today a motion to quash the search warrant that was used against the retailers of the fake whitening cream.
“I’m just wondering aloud, why were my clients being singled out? My question is, there were six stores raided. Surprisingly, there was no one else arrested and sued except my clients,†he said in a phone interview.
Carillo said he welcomes the anti-graft office’s investigation, so the public may know what really happened and so he can clear his name.
ILLEGAL BUSINESS IS OKEY WHEN UR PRIVATE LAWYER IS A CITYHALL OFFICIAL! AGREE?
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