Satur will emerge out of hiding in 3 days - lawyer

The lawyer of Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo on Friday said his client will surface in three days' time even as the Philippine National Police (PNP) began mapping out plans for the lawmaker's likely detention in Camp Crame. Ocampo's lawyer Romeo Capulong said the party-list congressman, now in hiding for a 23-year-old murder charge, was merely taking care of some legal matters. Capulong said Ocampo needs some time to take part in questioning the Leyte court's issuance of the warrants before the Supreme Court this week. "We believe the high court is our last resort. We believe in it and in Chief Justice Reynato Puno. That is our last recourse," he said in Filipino during an interview on dzRH radio. Also, he said the activist lawmaker will also make arrangements for his security during the time he is "incommunicado." "He is helping map the legal move before the high court early next week. And of course we are finalizing his security arrangements. There are other pending matters also, so three to four days from Thursday should be a reasonable period before he surrenders," Capulong said. Ocampo went into hiding Thursday after a Leyte court issued arrest warrants for him and other leaders of the National Democratic Front (NDF). The arrest warrants stemmed from charges of rebellion and murder dating back to 1984 and 1985, and stemming from the alleged purge of New People's Army (NPA) communist rebels. Jail 'comforts' As this developed, the PNP said Ocampo will most likely be given "better" detention quarters in Camp Crame instead of a prison cell in Leyte. "On where we will detain him, we're still discussing it. But so far we agreed the best would be in Camp Crame. The detention facilities in Crame are better than those in Leyte," Pagdilao said in an interview on dzXL radio. He also said PNP teams have fanned out searching for Ocampo, after the PNP hierarchy formally received copies of the warrant for Ocampo's arrest. Pagdilao stressed the PNP is not playing politics, but was merely enforcing a court order. "It is the PNP's job to enforce the warrant within 10 days. It was the court that ordered his arrest," he said. Justice, freedom For his part, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said the government has "strong evidence" against Ocampo. "I don't think there is any other way he can do this but to face the music. [Otherwise] he will be a fugitive running away from the law," he said in a separate interview on dzXL. Meanwhile, Capulong warned the government its harassment of Ocampo will gain the lawmaker more sympathizers. "Let us recognize everyone's right to participate in the parliamentary arena. Let's not push them outside the legal arena," he said. In a press statement shortly before he went into hiding Thursday, Ocampo condemned as a clear miscarriage of justice the issuance of a warrant of arrest against him in connection with purported communist purge in Leyte. "I am innocent of these invented charges. My right to due process was violated by the prosecutor and the judge who ignored seven solid bases for trashing the case. I will avail myself of legal remedies to correct this injustice against me," Ocampo said. Two places at once Ocampo insisted that it was impossible for him to carry out the murder for which he is accused. "I was arrested on Jan. 14, 1976 and was under military custody until May 5, 1985. This renders impossible the claim that I was in Leyte in 1984 to supervise the purported purge," he explained. As to the claim that he went back to Leyte in 1991, "that is also impossible because I was arrested anew in 1989 and was detained until 1992. I cannot be in detention while at the same time appear from thin air in Leyte." "In a way, the false charges are an attack on the freedom of thought and the partylist system. Malacañang wants to control the partylist elections, and that includes ensuring that we lose, by hook or by crook," said Ocampo. "This is a serious assault on the right of the marginalized and underrepresented sectors to elect their representatives," he said. - GMANews.TV