CA affirms arrest warrant against Ricky Recto

The Court of Appeals' special Sixth Division on Tuesday sustained the warrant of arrest issued against former Batangas vice governor Ricky Recto, older brother of Senator Ralph Recto. Recto, who remains missing, is accused of masterminding the assassination attempt on former Batangas Gov. Armando Sanchez in June 2006. Sanchez died in April this year during his re-bid against Governor Santos-Recto, brother-in-law of Recto. According to lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, the appellate court promulgated its 12-page decision which said "there is no doubt that a crime was committed." Topacio is the legal counsel for Sanchez, whose camp had offered a bounty of P1 million for Recto's arrest. In his statement, Topacio also quoted Sanchez's widow, former Sto. Tomas, Batangas Mayor Edna Sanchez, as saying: “Now I know that (my late husband) Arman can rest peacefully, knowing that the killers will be brought before the bar of justice." In June 2009, the Justice Department found probable cause to charge Recto and several others with double murder, frustrated murder and destruction of property. The case stemmed from the June 1, 2006 attack on Sanchez's vehicle inside the Batangas Provincial Capitol that killed Sanchez's driver Luisito Icaro and close-in security PO2 Eric Landicho. The case is pending at the Batangas Regional Trial Court. — Sophia M. Dedace, RJAB Jr., RSJ, GMANews.TV