CIDG chief sues Delfin Lee lawyers for ‘deception’

Bea Cupin

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CIDG chief sues Delfin Lee lawyers for ‘deception’
CIDG chief Director Benjamin Magalong is suing the two for 'deceiving' the PNP into certifying that Delfin Lee's warrant had been recalled

MANILA, Philippines – A police general who became controversial for “delisting” wanted businessman Delfin Lee from the Philippine National Police (PNP)’s list of most wanted has hit back by filing a case against Lee’s lawyers. 

During a Thursday, June 5 briefing, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) chief Director Benjamin Magalong said he personally filed a criminal complaint against lawyers Willie Rivera and Gilbert Repizo for obstruction of justice.

Rivera and Repizo represent Lee, who was arrested by the PNP’s Task Force Tugis on March 6, 2014. “The preliminary investigation [for the case] started the other day,” said Magalong.

Magalong is suing the two for obstruction of justice under Presidential Decree No. 1829.

Lee’s camp alleged his arrest was illegal, citing two letters from the PNP: one issued by PNP chief Director General Alan Purisima and another by Magalong. The CIDG, in those letters, said Lee had been “delisted.”

Magalong also certified the absence of Lee’s warrant, based on a November 2013 Court of Appeals (CA) ruling that “quashed, recalled, and lifted” a warrant of arrest issued by the Regional Trial Court Branch 42 in Pampanga.

The PNP, however, was unaware that another motion was filed before the Supreme Court and that the Pampanga court had yet to act on the lifting of the warrant.

Magalong said Rivera and Repizo “deceived” police by making it appear that the CA decision was immediately executory. The complaint was filed on May 14, 2014 before the Quezon City prosecutor’s office.

Criticized for alleged anomalies in handling the Lee case, Purisima himself defended Magalong in an earlier press conference, saying he was “made to believe that the CA decision was in effect.”

The delisting of a person from the PNP’s most wanted does not automatically lift any standing warrants of arrest – it only revokes any rewards offered for their arrest.

The controversy over Lee’s “delisting” and arrest prompted Senator Nancy Binay in March to file a resolution asking the Senate to launch an inquiry on the issue. Binay is the daughter of Vice President Jejomar Binay, who alleged that “influential people” were blocking Lee’s arrest.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima also defended the CIDG, saying the certification was an “honest mistake.”

The two letters from Purisima and Magalong became public only on the night of Lee’s arrest. Former Task Force Tugis head Senior Superintendent Conrad Capa himself found out about the letters only a month or two before the arrest.

The task force is directly under Purisima, responsible for chasing after the PNP’s 5 most wanted. Capa was relieved a few days after Lee’s arrest and reassigned to the PNP’s regional office in Cebu.

Chief Superintendent Edgardo Ladao now heads the task force. – Rappler.com

 

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Bea Cupin

Bea is a senior multimedia reporter who covers national politics. She's been a journalist since 2011 and has written about Congress, the national police, and the Liberal Party for Rappler.