SC orders transfer of Abra poll case hearing to RTC in Laoag City

TINEG, Abra -- The Supreme Court has transfered the venue of the election protest filed by defeated candidate Lenin Benwaren against Tineg Mayor Edwin Crisologo Sr. to the Regional Trial Court in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte.

In granting the plea of Crisologo, the 2nd Division of the SC noted dangers facing Crisologo and his counsel, lawyer Estelita Cordero, and said the political turmoil in Abra is "publicly known throughout the country."

The July 28, 2008 resolution of the 2nd Division was received belatedly by Crisologo, who filed the petition on Jan. 17, 2008, several months after his wife Brenda died nearly two months after she was shot by an assassin in Bangued, Abra.

Crisologo’s victory in the May 2007 elections has been questioned by Benwaren in Election Case No. 2007-004, which was originally filed with RTC Branch 2 in Bangued, Abra. Judge Corpuz B. Alzate of the Bangued RTC did not object to the plea of Crisologo for the transfer of the venue of the case.

The SC resolution directed the branch clerk of court of RTC Branch 2 in Bangued to transmit the records of the case to the executive judge of the RTC in Laoag City.

It also ordered the executive judge of the Laoag City RTC to raffle the case to a branch of the court upon receipt of the records.

The SC division also instructed the judge assigned to handle the case to conduct the hearing with dispatch.

Crisologo welcomed the resolution, while Cordero expressed relief, saying it represented a legal victory for her. Benwaren had earlier asked the same SC division to transfer the venue of the case to any court in San Fernando City, La Union, but Crisologo objected.

In a related development, Chief Supt. Ramon Gatan, head of the Region 1 police office, has granted a request of Cordero for the assignment of five security escorts for her each time she attends the hearing on the administrative cases filed against Crisologo in Bangued and Criminal Case numbers 2007-08, 2-7-059-061 and IS Case NBo. 2008-D-138, all of which were described by the lawyer as "harassment suits."

Cordero said the threats to her life had come from a member of a powerful political clan in Abra and that she had reported the matter to the police office in Ilocos Sur and to Brig. Gen. Loreto Rirao Jr., commanding general of the 503rd Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army, which is stationed in Sulvec, Narvacan, Ilocos Sur.

A native of Narvacan, Cordero also handles cases in Abra.