Nova Parojinog seeks acquittal, opposes transfer to BJMP

Former Ozamiz City vice mayor Nova Princess Parojinog has moved for her acquittal in two criminal cases and opposed a motion by prosecutors for her transfer from police custody to a facility of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP).

Parojinog belongs to a political family that President Rodrigo Duterte accused of involvement in the illegal drug trade. Her father, then-Ozamiz mayor Reynaldo Parojinog, Sr., mother and 13 others were killed in a police raid in 2017.

She faces charges for illegal possession of firearms and dangerous drugs before two Quezon City courts. Her brother, Reynaldo Jr., was sentenced to up to 40 years in prison for drug possession last year.

Her lawyers have filed a demurrer to evidence for each of the two cases, essentially seeking her acquittal on the basis of weak prosecution evidence and without her having to present evidence in her defense.

In separate pleadings, Parojinog's lawyers suggested the 677.6796 grams of shabu and the M16 rifle and ammunition that police allegedly seized when they raided her house on July 30, 2017 were planted evidence.

They said an "advance security team" "illegally entered the house" even before the implementation of a court-issued search warrant for an "unaccounted period of time," which they argued gave the officers the opportunity to plant or tamper with the allegedly seized contraband.

The supposed unlawful entry placed the entire search and seizure operations in doubt, the lawyers said.

They also raised that Parojinog was handcuffed and thus "illegally arrested" before the search and without her committing any crime. They claimed the police officers failed to comply with the "knock and announce principle" and just barged into the house.

The raid was led by then-Ozamiz City police chief Jovie Espenido, now a police lieutenant colonel who is being investigated by the Philippine National Police over alleged drug links.

In moving for the client's acquittal, Parojinog's lawyers also argued that the allegedly seized items were mishandled, breaking the chain of custody and compromising their integrity as evidence.

"The police witnesses shall only have themselves to blame for the dismissal of the instant case," the lawyers said, adding that the prosecution should not be faulted if the case is dismissed.

"The truth of the matter is that the police witnesses are simply incapable of proving the charges filed against the accused because their version of the evidence... reeks of a cover-up and set-up rolled into one, and is replete with utter falsities..." they added.

They filed the demurrer on the firearms case on February 7, and the one on the drug case on November 27, said one of Parojinog's lawyers.

'No special treatment'

While the demurrer is pending, prosecutors asked the Quezon City Regional Trial Court to order Parojinog transferred from her current detention place in Camp Crame to the BJMP in Bicutan, Taguig City.

Prosecutors said her continued detention at the Philippine National Police's Custodial Center (PNPCC) gave her special treatment "as she is subjected to a different set of rules and procedures not afforded to all other detainees under the BJMP control."

In their opposition to the government motion, her lawyers said the court had already decided in 2018 that her detention at the PNPCC was the "safest" option to "deter any threat to her life or well-being" while her cases are pending.

They said the prosecution did not allege new circumstances warranting her transfer.

"There is absolutely no special treatment in this case," they said, adding that Parojinog, a "high-risk detainee," is detained at the PNPCC for her security and safety.

They said Senator Leila de Lima, former Bureau of Corrections chief Franklin Bucayo, and some suspected members of the Maute group are also detained at the PNPCC.

"The fact of the matter is, the PNPCC is not a temporary detention facility as the prosecution claims it to be," the lawyers said. — BM, GMA News