By NORA SORINO
and SITA ASEQUIA
of GSD-Iligan Bureau
and NITZ ARANCON
Correspondent
ILIGAN City--Rep. Vicente Belmonte Jr.’s lawyer Rejoice Subejano, placed behind bars for contempt of court, was released from detention at a police station in Tubod here late last week.
Subejano was released after he posted a P50-thousand bond on orders of the Court of Appeals.
The lawyer was cited for contempt and ordered arrested by Judge Arthur Abundiente of the Regional Trial Court of Lanao Norte, Branch 4 supposedly because he defied a court order to refrain from discussing the power struggle at city hall and because he allegedly insulted the judge.
Subejano was earlier slapped with a 10-day imprisonment at the BJMP prison facility at Tipanoy.
He surrendered to authorities on Tuesday night but was never brought to the BJMP facility; he was merely held in a police station.
Meanwhile, Misamis Oriental Gov. Yevgeny Vincente Emano has called on Iligan Rep. Vicente Belmonte Jr. to help the capitol convince a judge to take back her order to transfer detained Mayor Celso Regencia to the provincial jail here.
“Hina-ot nga nasabtan kami nila ni Congressman Belmonte ug diha na lang unta sa Iligan i-detain si Mayor Regencia kay dili gyud namo kaya dinhi sa Misamis Oriental,” said Emano.
He appealed to Belmonte, Regencia’s accuser, to help him in appealing to Judge Marissa Estabaya of the Regional Trial Court in Initao, Misamis Oriental, not to insist on the order.
Emano said Belmonte has no reason to feel bad about the capitol’s position because it was the provincial government that immediately responded when the Iligan congressman was ambushed near the Laguindingan airport in December 2014. He said it was the capitol that took care of Belmonte and his aides at the Alubijid provincial hospital.
Belmonte, for his part, said he was leaving matters in the hands of the court, and that the decision to transfer Regencia or not from the Iligan city jail to the provincial jail in Cagayan de Oro “is the prerogative of the judge.”
Belmonte said he expected the Initao court to make a ruling on Tuesday, March 22.
He said Judge Estabaya has been presented with three letters--one from the warden of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) facility in Tipanoy, Iligan, another from the warden from the provincial jail of Misamis Oriental, and a third one from the Misamis Oriental capitol.
Belmonte said the lawyers of Regencia also filed for a motion for reconsideration, opposing the transfer. The congressman’s lawyers opposed the motion, and were given 10 days to answer. He said his lawyers were also given five days, and the judge could rule on it next week.
The congressman criticized Regencia’s camp. “Please don’t twist the law... They are making their own laws.”
