PNP asks judge: Don't allow Danny Lim to attend fora

The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Friday asked a Makati court to take back its order permitting senatorial candidate Danilo Lim to attend several public forums, because the PNP “cannot readily comply" with the order. In its three-page urgent motion for the recall of the temporary pass for Lim, the PNP said Judge Elmo Alameda of the Makati City Regional Trial Court Branch 150 should no longer allow the former Army general to attend upcoming speaking engagements in Cagayan de Oro City in Mindanao on Monday and Tuesday next week. Chief Supt. Rommel Heredia, director of the PNP Headquarters Support Service, said that while they were not “being unmindful nor defiant to the Order of the Court," the police cannot handle Lim’s planned sorties because it does not have enough security escorts available, and also not enough time for “appropriate security preparations." On Thurday, the PNP defied Alameda's order when it refused to allow Lim to temporarily leave his detention cell to attend a forum at the University of the Philippines Diliman in Quezon City, citing security concerns. [See: Danny Lim not allowed to go to UP forum] Lim is detained at the PNP Custodial Center in Camp Crame on charges of rebellion in connection with the 2007 Manila Peninsula siege where he, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and a number of soldiers sporting the Magdalo banner challenged President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s legitimacy and called her a "bogus president." In its motion, the PNP also cited Section 4 (Hearing of Motion) of the Revised Rules of Court, which provides that "every written motion required to be heard and the notice of hearing thereof" should be served in a way that ensures that the other party receives it at least three days before the hearing. Heredia said the PNP only learned about Lim's motion to get a temporary pass when it received a copy of the order granting the request on Wednesday afternoon, or barely a day before the UP forum. [See: AFP exec enters UP, 4 years after egg-pelting incident] Lim's camp, however, branded the PNP's refusal to release the senatorial bet as "pure and simple harassment," adding that the anti-Arroyo sentiment expressed in Lim’s speech might have "scared off" authorities. “This government knows that when Gen. Lim speaks, he commands the respect and support of those hearing him talk. He does not invent things; he has no penchant for twisting the truth. So when he says something, people are definitely moved into action," Lim's spokesperson, Belle Enriquez, said. In his prepared speech, read in the UP forum by Enriquez and carried the title "The Military and the Act of Effecting Change," Lim said Mrs. Arroyo should be answerable to the "transgressions" committed by the government to the Filipinos. [See: Danny Lim wants Arroyo punished for ‘sins vs. Filipinos’] Enriquez said their camp is already preparing to file contempt charges against the PNP. “This just shows how deep the culture of impunity under the Arroyo government is. Despite the presence of a court order, they willfully defied it using feeble reasons. They just don’t care if the law is circumvented as long as they get their way. We will not be bullied. We will fight this out," Enriquez said. The PNP had earlier defied another court order when it barred members of Lim's campaign team from meeting with him to finish an infomercial in February. Sen. Francis Pangilinan, the Liberal Party’s Senate campaign manager, said the PNP committed gross negligence when it did not allow Lim to attend the UP forum. “Our police should be the ones enforcing the law. If they cannot do what they are mandated to do, then heads must roll," Pangilinan said. Lim is an adopted senatorial candidate of the LP.—JV, GMANews.TV