I GOT a big surprise last week – got a parcel from the Ombudsman. It was a bit thick so it took some time for me to digest the contents of the package.
Ang kaso diay sa Captain’s Peak Resort, involving several governors, congressmen, mayors, barangay captains, regional directors and other members of the PAMB.
I will provide the details in our next episode.
But just the listing of the respondents, yes, just the listing, already consumed several pages, hapit man seguro mo-200 ka buok respondents.
Ingon ana kadaghan ang gipangkiha sa Field Investigation Unit sa Office of the Ombudsman.
There were two annexes, annex A and annex B, all very thick because of the huge number of respondents.
And of course, an order to file counter-affidavit to the two (2) charges, administrative and criminal.
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I can only imagine the stress and the pressure experienced by the respondents when they individually received the “kiha package” from the Ombudsman.
Una, taas kaayo ang basahon, iningles pa gyod. Daghan ang gipang-cite nga violations, nagsugod niadtong tuig 2003 pa, hangtod nahinog last year. Just the fact of reading would already entail a lot of stress, plus the fact that the charges are both for administrative and criminal cases.
Ikaduha, because the violations are grave, and the penalties are serious, the natural course of things to do for a respondent, like a barangay captain for instance, is to consult a lawyer.
Tagak dayon ang consultation fee, the rate depends on the lawyer, dunay mahal, duna pod barato ra.
After consulting, either the barangay captain immediately hires the lawyer or will ask for some time to decide, perhaps to discuss this with the family. Sugod na dayon ang problema sa kapitan.
Because of the gravity of the situation, the barangay captain would eventually decide to hire the lawyer to provide an “explainer” to him on the legal issues and consequences, and of course, for the preparation of his counter-affidavit.
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When the lawyer accepts the case, tagak na pod ag acceptance fee from the barangay captain.
The amount, again, would depend on the lawyer, dunay mahalon, duna pod baratohon ra. Mahalon kon taas-taas na og experience and daghan na nadag-an nga mga kaso, baratohon kon bag-ong abogado, gamay pa og experience ug wala pa kaayo kaila sa panglaban ug sa korte.
The more practical ones would rather have the mahalon lawyer, kay puslan man nga mogasto, dili na lang magmantinil og ukay-ukay ra.
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What is the issue of contention, meaning, unsa may unod ug bukog sa kaso?
Simple – there were violations kuno, and the DENR issued 2 orders of violations, and all the respondents did nothing on the finding of violation.
Angay kuno nga duna silay gibuhat as members of the PAMB upon notice of the violations.
Tungod kay wala silay gibuhat, maoy rason nga gikasohan silang tanan.
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Well, am sure that many Bohol lawyers are having a field day in accepting these cases taking into account the sheer number of respondents.
Kasapi na pod ag mga abogado tungod aning kasoha.
Wa may mahimo ang mga respondents, whether they like it or not, mapugos man sila og hire og lawyers kay dili man pwede og sila ray mogama sa ilang counter-affidavit.
Og di nila bayran og acceptance fee, dili man mogama sa counter-affidavit ang mga abogado. Unya 10 days ra baya from receipt sa “kiha package” ang time frame nga gihatag sa Ombudsman.
Mapugos gyod pangita og kwarta pang-bayad sa acceptance fee ang gikiha. Ang kapait ra ba, kay wa gyod bisan usa nga nagtigom para pang-bayad sa kaso. Ang resulta – baligya na lang og binuhi o alahas ba kaha or prenda o baligya sa kayutaan.
All because they are being charged with the offense of legal omission – nakasala tungod kay walay gihimo.
Hilabihang paita kinabuhia oi.
We shall have the details in our next episode.
Abangan.
