Court strikes out Joker Arroyo's statement on activist's case

MANILA, Philippines — A Department of Justice's prosecutor has convinced a Manila judge to expunge from court records a statement of Senator Joker Arroyo in defense of an activist accused in a multiple murder case involving the alleged murder by the New People's Army of suspected government spies within their ranks in 1985. Manila RTC Branch 32 Judge Thelma Bunyi-Medina not only sustained the objection of state prosecutor Peter Ong to strike out Joker's statement but also ordered jailed peasant leader Randall Echaniz to shut up or be cited for contempt. At the resumption of the hearing in defense of activist Vic Ladlad, Arroyo told the court: " I think this trial is a revival of the martial law years. Its sickening." He testified that Ladlad was in solitary confinement in Camp Nakar, Lucena City, Quezon from the time of his arrest in February 1983 until his release soon after EDSA 1 and could not be involved in the 1985 killings. Arroyo was chairman of the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) from 1983 to 1986, during which he acted as lead counsel for Ladlad. Echaniz, who is one of Ladlad's co -accused together of Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo and National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) consultant Jose Maria Sison, told the court, "I was also a political prisoner during martial law." Judge Bunyi-Medina ordered Echaniz to shut up and threatened to cite him for contempt. Echaniz has been detained at the Manila City Jail for m ore than a year following his arrest on Jan 28, 2008 by suspected military and police agents in plain clothes and ski masks while attending a meeting in preparation for the 2nd Rural Congress organized by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) in the city of Bago in Negros Occidental. "This case is just one big harassment suit against activists opposed to the Gloria Macapagal Arroyo administration" said Ladlad's wife, Fides. "This case is pure junk and it should be consigned to its proper place where this administration also belongs," she added. - D’Jay Lazaro, GMANews.TV