A PHILIPPINE senator has filed a resolution seeking a probe into the supposed warrantless arrest of film director Jade Francis Castro and three companions for allegedly setting a modern jeep on fire in Quezon province.
Through Senate Resolution 928, Senator Ana Theresia N. Hontiveros-Baraquel said the Senate needs to confirm if the arrest had been illegally carried out, raising alarm over closed circuit television (CCTV) footage of the incident that allegedly showed the warrantless arrest.
“Warrantless arrests are limited by law to protect the rights of persons and to maintain the integrity of our legal system,” she said.
The senator cited conflicting witness testimonies of people claiming to have seen the director and his companions in the adjacent town of Mulanay, Quezon, while the arson happened in Catanauan, Quezon.
The five had been arrested on Feb. 1 in Catanauan Quezon for allegedly torching a modernized jeepney while on vacation.
The CCTV footage provided by the Local Government Unit of Mulanay Quezon supposedly showed the director in Mulanay, which is 30 minutes away from Catanauan Quezon.
She said that the Philippine National Police has said that the CCTV footage cannot be trusted.
“There is a need to determine whether the operational guidelines and protocols that our law enforcers follow are sufficient and are being followed so as to not arbitrarily deprive citizens of liberty nor cast doubts when they perform their sworn duty to protect and to serve the people,” Ms. Hontiveros-Baraquel said. — John Victor D. Ordoñez
