THE Department of Justice has junked the kidnapping and other criminal charges filed against former Bayan Muna Rep.Neri Colmenares, Kabataan party-list Rep. Sarah Elago and several others in connection with the case of “missing” student activist Alicia Jasper Lucena.
In an 11-page resolution, the Justice department found no probable cause to warrant the filing of charges before the trial court against Colmenares and his co-accused.
The case stemmed from the complaint filed by the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation Division Group (PNP-CIDG) and Lucena’s mother, Relissa, acting as the private complainant.
The resolution was signed by Assistant State Prosecutors Xerxes Garcia and Noel Antay Jr. and approved by Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Richard Anthony Fadullon and Prosecutor General Benedicto Malcontento.
Aside from Colmenares and Elago, others who were exonerated were Anakbayan president Vencer Crisostomo, secretary general Einstein Recedes, and Anakbayan members Charie del Rosario, Bianca Marie Gacos, Jay Roven Balais, Al Omaga, Shittie Sharine Amerol and Alex Danday
The DOJ also dismissed the case against the respondents for violation of Republic Act 9851 or the Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, And Other Crimes Against Humanity.
Also dismissed by the DOJ were the case for violation of anti-trafficking laws and protection of children filed against the accused for allegedly abducting students they recruited into their groups such as Lucena.
In junking the case, state prosecutors said the respondents could not be held liable for kidnapping or failing to return a minor under Article 270 of the Revised Penal Code since the complainants failed to show that they were entrusted with the care of Lucena.
There is also no evidence presented to show that they deliberately prevented or failed to return her to her home.
“While it may be true that Alicia was still a minor when she left her home and joined the Anakbayan on February 3, 2019, the complainants failed to show that the respondents were entrusted with the custody of Alicia. ON the contrary, the affidavit of private complainant and the handwritten letter of Alicia to her parents show that even when Alicia joined the Anakbayan, there were instances that she returned home,” the DOJ said.
The state prosecutors also did not give credence to the testimony of two former members of the New People’s Army (NPA) narrating the alleged modus operandi of youth groups in recruiting members to eventually become a full-time member of the communist movement.
“In fact, their allegation that Anakbayan recruits minors to become members of the CPP-NPA-NDF remained unsupported by any evidence and would not suffice to determine the existence of probable cause,” the DOJ said.
The state prosecutors also noted that the complainants failed to prove that Anakbayan is an armed force or that the members used children to participate in armed hostilities, thus warranting the dismissal of the case for violation of RA 985.
“There is also no evidence presented showing that Anakbayan is the recruiting arm of or somehow connected to the CPP-NPA-NDF,” the DOJ declared.