SC to initiate parallel probe on post-Bar exams blast

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it will create an independent committee to conduct a parallel investigation into the blast that rocked the culmination of the Bar examinations last Sunday. Interviewed on ANC, court administrator and spokesman Jose Midas Marquez said the committee will get down to business within the week. He added the SC-formed panel will also coordinate with the police. "The Chief Justice [Renato Corona] is creating a committee [for a] parallel investigation and invite law deans and even students who were in the area, and make recommendations to prevent similar incidents from happening," Marquez said. "We don't want this investigation to drag on. We want results right away. We want recommendations of people who should be prosecuted. If there are law students, then they should be prevented from pursuing law studies, taking the Bar, and becoming a lawyer," he said. The Manila Police District has already said that an initial investigation showed the explosion outside the De La Salle University campus along Taft Avenue last Sunday may be a case of fraternity wars. It remains unclear whether the explosive was a pillbox or a grenade. Marquez earlier said witnesses have already identified the suspects, but the police are still confirming the identities. The Supreme Court has administrative supervision of the yearly Bar exams. This year's chair, Associate Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales, has assured that the incident would not hamper the checking of the test booklets and the release of the results. On Tuesday, Marquez said law school fraternities who could be behind the violence may also face liabilities "especially if we can show there's a conspiracy among the members." "Fraternities are organizations and our Constitution allows being part of organizations. Of course, there's a limit to every organization and what organization will be doing. So long as it's within the confines of the law, there should be nothing wrong with that. The moment you go beyond the limits, that should be uncalled for," he added. Frats involved should be accountable Also on Tuesday, University of the Philippines College of Law professor Theodore Te asked fraternities who could be behind the incident to own up to what their members did by surrendering the suspects. "I think this is the start of fraternities being more accountable to the public," Te said. The human rights lawyer first aired the demand on a Facebook note titled "Evil cloaked in Greek Letters" he posted last Monday. "The fraternities at war yesterday must make the first move: surrender those responsible so that they may be prosecuted. Otherwise, they reduce all Greek-lettered societies, many of them legitimate, to nothing better than street gangs and organized criminal syndicates," he said. Te also said the person or individuals who lobbed the explosive intended to kill the targets. "There is nothing anyone can say to me that will convince me that one who would throw an explosive into a crowd did not deliberately plan to kill other people. Absolutely none. It was an act done with malice, with premeditation, intentionally with the purpose of inflicting mortal harm," he said. — Sophia Dedace/RSJ/LBG, GMANews.TV