CEBU Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia said she would like to confer with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) when the reward money of P300,000 can be given to the informant who was instrumental in the arrest of suspect Bella Ruby Santos in a mall in Metro Manila.
She said NBI has direct access to the informant who helped the bureau find Santos, who is now detained at the Naga City jail.
Santos, who was arrested last Oct. 6, wants to gain temporary freedom while awaiting the trial of the kidnapping with homicide charge against her and British boyfriend Ian Charles Griffiths.
The defense lawyers formally asked Judge Ester Veloso to allow Santos to post bail in a pleading filed yesterday.
Governor Garcia, meanwhile, plans to discuss the P300,000 reward with the NBI officials next week during the signing of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the bureau on the provincial lot the they will be occupying in Sudlon, Lahug, together with the Cebu Provincial Police Office.
“I hope by that time, we will also be turning over the rewarda of P300,000. I will still have to confer with the NBI if the informant will be ready to accept,” the governor told reporters in an interview at the second stop of the Suroy-suroy sa Sugbo in the City of Naga.
Capitol will also be giving citations to NBI agents who have distinguished themselves in the arrest of Santos. Garcia said among them is NBI special investigator Arnel Pura.
Companion
When she arrested, Santos was accompanied by a woman whom she had met three days ago and who agreed to let her stay at her apartment on A. Bonifacio Ave. in Quezon City. An informant helped the NBI find the suspect.
Santos and Griffiths, who is freed on bail commitment pending further inquiries by London authorities, were charged with the killing of six-year-old Ellah Joy Pique.
In their pleading filed yesterday asking Judge Veloso to allow Santos to post bail, the defense lawyers outlined at least five legal arguments why the accused should be allowed to temporarily step out of jail after her arraignment next week.
“No less than our 1987 Constitution guarantees an accused the right to bail except in a capital offense where the evidence of guilt is strong,” the motion signed by lawyer Rameses Villagonzalo said.
Bail motion
The defense filed the bail motion on the same day Veloso, presiding judge of the Regional Trial Court Branch 6, tackled the omnibus motion that seeks to drop the kidnapping with homicide case and recall the arrest warrant for Santos and Griffiths.
Judge Veloso sought clarification from the defense panel why it filed numerous pleadings despite the fact that Santos is scheduled to be arraigned on Oct. 24.
Ronel Ubod, one of the defense counsels, said they asked the court to resolve their motion for bail after Santos' arraignment.
Veloso set the defense's motion for reconsideration for resolution after the prosecution's panels, who include a three-member panel of state prosecutors and the Children's Legal Bureau, submitted their opposition to the defense's motion.
The prosecution is also expected to object the defense's move asking the court to allow Santos to post bail.
‘Not just weak’
In their motion, the defense said that notwithstanding the heinous nature of the crime, they still believe Santos is entitled to bail since the evidence of guilt against her is “not only weak, but practically nothing and nonexistent.”
The defense said no one really saw who killed the Pique, who was abducted allegedly by a big male foreigner and a Filipina last Feb. 8.
Santos’s lawyers said the court also should allow Santos to post bail because the police seized the wrong vehicle and the prosecution still only has two witnesses.
The defense added the police withheld and suppressed the release of the DNA results, while the cartographic sketches do not match the facial and physical descriptions of Santos and Griffiths.
Apart from allowing Santos to post bail, the defense also asked the court to require government prosecutors to present evidence proving the evidence of guilt of the accused.
