Pamatong jailed after calling Comelec execs 'thieves'

"I'm leaving kasi magnanakaw kayong lahat (I'm leaving because all of you are thieves)! These angry words addressed to the officials of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) have caused the detention of self-proclaimed international lawyer Elly Pamatong at the Manila City jail on Wednesday.

It was past 10 a.m., when the Comelec was about to announce the dismissal of the disqualification case against former President Joseph Estrada that Pamatong, clad in batik polo and black fez, stood in front of poll officials and hurled invectives at them. But the venomous language was not enough for Pamatong. He decided to storm the Comelec's session hall but was immediately barred by security guards from causing commotion at the poll body's headquarters in Intramuros, Manila. Pamatong's anger begot anger, too. Comelec officials ordered the arrest of the lawyer who was earlier disqualified from joining the presidential race in May. “It was an utter disrespect to us that we have to react. We have to teach this person a lesson," said Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer, who presides the poll body's second division that ruled on Estrada's case. “If I call you magnanakaw, you might punch me in the face, that is how we felt. (But) being respectable people, we did not do so, we did not punch him in the face, (instead) we put him under contempt," he told reporters. The commissioner said there was no need for a written order for an arrest caused by contempt. Ferrer said the Comelec cited Pamatong for direct contempt because he placed them under “extreme embarrassment" and in the process, disrupted the promulgation of the decision on the petition against Estrada's presidential bid. Under the rules of court, direct contempt cannot be appealed and is punishable by 10 days imprisonment or a P200-fine. But Ferrer said that under the Comelec rules, contempt is unbailable. “Because we don’t have room for (his) confinement, we ordered that he be brought to the Manila City Jail, unbailable and unprobationable," he said. Ferrer said the Comelec had initially considered letting Pamatong off the hook but the poll body later changed its decision because of his actions. “He created a disturbance in front of so many." The Comelec is contemplating on perpetually disqualifying Pamatong from joining elections, according to Ferrer. He said the poll body could also move to have him disbarred. It wasn't the first time that Pamatong was censured and detained for his rambling statements and imprudent acts. In 2004, Pamatong earned the moniker "Spike Boy" after he and seven followers scattered metal spikes on Manila highways, puncturing the tires of some 100 vehicles. Pamatong said he scattered the spikes to protest corruption in government and the decision of the Comelec to disallow him from joining the 2004 presidential race, which was won by Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. LBG/ARCS/GMANews.TV