CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (MindaNews / 04 July) – A Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Ozamis City has dismissed the charges filed against Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI) Bishop Carlo Morales and National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace consultant Rommel Salinas.
They were incarcerated for illegal possession of firearms and explosives for seven years in Ozamiz City.
In her decision handed down last July 2, Judge Grace Yulo of RTC Branch 15 said the prosecution failed to prove that Morales and Salinas owned the MK2 hand grenade allegedly found in their possession when they were arrested at a checkpoint along the highway in Barangay Gango, Ozamiz City on May 11, 2017.
“The prosecution failed to present any evidence concerning the negative fact that the accused had no license or permit to own or possess the firearm or explosive, which fact may be established by the testimony or certification of a representative of the Philippine National Police Firearms and Explosives Unit that the accused has no license or permit to possess the subject firearm or explosive,” Yulo said in her decision.
Police arrested Morales together with his wife, Maria Teofila, and their driver, Isadome Dalid. Police later released the two companions of Morales.
IFI Supreme Bishop Joel Porlares hailed the decision, saying the acquittal of Morales and Salinas “speaks about the enduring power of justice” against their members who are targeted and red-tagged by the military and police.
Former IFI Supreme Bishop and now Bishop of Surigao diocese Rhee Timbang said that red-tagging still continues against the IFI.
Timbang cited the continued red-tagging of Cagayan de Oro IFI Bishop Felixberto Calang, the continued imprisonment of IFI worker Adeem Yanez in Lumbia jail in Cagayan de Oro, and the voluntary exile of Bishop Antonio Ablon “as proof of the prosecution against them.”
“The red-tagging sows a climate of fear and threatens the life of our clergy and church workers,” Timbang said.
Timbang said the continued harassment forces the IFI clergy and its workers to lie low “in their work in helping the poor.”
He said the worst thing that happened is that the IFI, “once the bulwark of activism,” has to tone down its vigilance and militancy.
Atty. Ephraim Cortez, president of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), assisted Bishop Morales, while Ozamis City–based Atty. Virgilio Ponciano Ocaya of the Union of Peoples’ Lawyers in Mindanao (UPLM-NUPL) assisted Salinas.
“We are happy with the acquittal, though it took seven long years for the wheels of justice to grind fine,” Ocaya said in a statement.
The succession of judges in RTC Branch 15 Ozamis City may have partly contributed to the delay. The original presiding judge, Edmundo P. Pintac, was assassinated sometime in October 2018. Subsequently, Soliver Peras was designated acting presiding judge until August 2021 when Michael L. Ajoc assumed office. It was only starting with the reception of defense evidence in December 2021 when Judge Yulo took over and eventually decided on the case, the UPLM-NUPL said.
“While the decision vindicated our innocent clients, much is yet to be done since many more innocent people who are victims of political persecution are still languishing in jail and facing trumped-up charges similar to these dismissed cases,” Ocaya said.
Morales and Salinas, while travelling, were arrested at a checkpoint in Ozamis City on May 11, 2017. They were then subsequently detained and charged with possession of explosives. Morales, however, was granted bail on March 14, 2018.
The IFI immediately called for the release of Morales so that he could return to his ecclesiastical duties. As a religious figure, Morales “definitely does not have the intention of bringing a grenade inside his official car,” the UPLM-NUPL said.
The arrest of Bishop Morales ignited outrage from the religious communities not only in the country but even overseas, citing that the trumped-up charges “is a big injustice to the person and to the Church that expressed solidarity in the struggle of the people and gave support to the peace talks” between the government and NDFP, it said.
Human rights advocates have long decried the arrests and demanded the release also of Salinas, who is protected under the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) signed by both the Government of the Philippines and NDFP.
“With this hard-fought legal victory, the government should also seriously consider formally resuming the stalled peace talks with the NDFP as soon as possible to address the root causes of the rebellion in our country,” urged Antonio C. Azarcon, UPLM chair. (Froilan Gallardo / MindaNews)
