Judge Andres Soriano of Branch 148 of the Makati Regional Trial Court ruled it had “lost jurisdiction” over the coup d’etat case against Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV due to its dismissal with finality in 2011, and denied the bid of the administration’s attack dogs to have Trillanes arrested.
Judge Elmo Alameda of Branch 150 of that same court, which had also dismissed the rebellion case against the senator with finality in 2011, ruled otherwise—apparently to please the powers that be.
The shocking contradiction between those rulings really comes down to a contrast between plain common sense and arrant nonsense. As this paper’s editorial, “The law is vibrant,” (10/24/18) noted, it was “an assault on basic logic,” “an attack against common sense.” The illogic was elementary: The application for amnesty was in fact granted, but that application could no longer be found; ergo, there was never any such application! Soriano saw the sheer stupidity of that proposition. Alameda did not? Duh!
Moreover, as law students, professors and practitioners have been saying all along, a criminal case long dismissed with finality cannot be resurrected. At least we know now which of the two Makati “magistrates” should go back to law school or take remedial law review before he inflicts more mediocrity on our already sickening justice system. How dare he assume he has what it takes to preside over the lives and fortunes of litigants before him!
The Integrated Bar of the Philippines should commence disbarment against Alameda for being such an insult to the legal profession.
RAMON NORMAN TORREFRANCA, rn_torree@yahoo.com