Fr Robert Reyes holds silent protest over Abadilla 5 case

MANILA, Philippines - In a protest action different from his usual activity, Catholic priest Robert Reyes on Monday conducted a silent protest in front of the Supreme Court, GMA's Flash Report said. The television report said Reyes just sat in front of the High Tribunal compound in Manila and even refused to have an interview with reporters. However, Reyes showed the media a notebook stating the purpose of his protest action. Reyes wanted the Supreme Court to act and review the case of five men convicted for the murder of retired Col. Rolando Abadilla in 1996. The priest is also set to send a letter to Chief Justice Reynato Puno regarding the matter. On April 1, Court of Appeals Associate Justice Agustin Dizon affirmed the eight-year old decision by the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Quezon City convicting accused Lenido Lumanog, Augusto Santos, SPO2 Cesar Fortuna, Rameses de Jesus and Joel de Jesus. The CA has modified into reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment the accused conviction from capital punishment. The death penalty was in 2006. The five men were sentenced to death in August 1999 for the June 1996 murder of Abadilla. Following their conviction, an automatic review of their case started, but was merely passed on to the Supreme Court in 2000, and to the CA in 2005. The lawyers for the Abadilla 5 earlier filed a petition for review before the Supreme Court seeking to declare as "null and void" a decision by the CA affirming their clients' conviction. In their 42-page petition, lawyers Soliman Santos and Vicente Dante Adan, argued that there was "a grave failure of appellate review". "The CA, instead of substantially reviewing the case, has plagiarized the arguments contained in the appeals brief of the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) in May 2004," they said. Apart from that, the lawyers said the CA also ignored the arguments invoked by three other legal counsels in the appeals brief, relied on contradictory testimonies of lone witness, mis-appreciated the alibi of one of the accused denying his presence at the scene of crime, and disregarded vital pieces of evidence. The legal counsels also asked the SC to take over in resolving the review and not to send the case back to the CA to prevent further delay. - Amita Legaspi, GMANews.TV