Court releases Pandi mayor, orders rape charges reinvestigated

Pandi, Bulacan Mayor Enrico Roque was released from detention on Monday after the Caloocan Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 121 granted his motion to quash his arrest warrant, according to his lawyer.

Roque,  along with Pandi Councilor Jonjon Roxas and government employee Roel  Raymundo, had been arrested the previous week in connection with two counts of rape.

“Nasa Pandi na siya,”  said Atty. John Ree Doctor, Roque’s legal counsel, in a statement to GMA News Online.

(He’s already in Pandi.)

A video showed Roque being greeted by supporters at the Pandi Municipal Hall Compound following his release.

The court ordered the immediate release of Roque, Roxas, and Raymundo,  stating that the accused had not been allowed to be heard during the proceedings.

“After this Court punctiliously examined the available records of this case, it shows that accused-movants were not duly notified of the proceedings. The records are bereft of any evidence showing even an attempt to have the subpoena… served to the known address of the accused-movants,” the court noted in its order.

Additionally, the court directed the Office of the City Prosecutor in Caloocan City to reinvestigate the charges.

“The rights of individuals against what can sometimes be perceived as oppressive exercises of governmental prosecutorial power must be protected when required, as is the case herein,” the court stated.

It further emphasized, “The palpable error by the prosecution warrants the quashal of the warrant of arrest and necessitates a reinvestigation.”

As a result, the court suspended the trial for a non-extendible period of 30 days from the receipt of the order. — DVM, GMA Integrated News