High Court close to naming suspect 10/6/2010
By Edison A. de los Angeles and Gabriel C. Bonjoc, Correspondents
A special committee formed by the Supreme Court (SC) is “close to” identifying the perpetrators of the grenade attack on the Bar examinations site last Sept. 26 that left 47 people injured, a senior court official said yesterday.According to deputy court administrator Ruel Villanueva, the investigating body headed by Associate Justice Martin Villarama Jr. was evaluating certain “leads and evidence” that may lead to the arrest of those behind the attack.
“We’re achieving it. We’re close to it,” Villanueva told reporters as the committee opened its second hearing yesterday.
Yesterday's hearing of the eight-member panel lasted only briefly as no witnesses were asked to appear. Villanueva, who is also the panel secretary and spokesperson, said the panel examined the testimonies and other evidence gathered by the Manila Police District and the National Bureau of Investigation.
Senior student Jed Carlo Lazaga of the University of San Jose – Recoletos (USJ-R) College of Law appeared before the special committee on Monday.
He denied that he threw the grenade outside De La Salle University (DLSU) on Taft Avenue in Manila to support friends and relatives taking the Bar examinations.
Two witnesses who claimed that Lazaga threw the explosives also testified separately before the committee.
Jonathan Capanas, dean of the UJ-R College of Law said they continue to support Lazaga despite the witnesses’ claims.
“As far as I know, Lazaga’s explanation is clearer,” Capanas said adding that identification of Lazaga through his ID card was not enough evidence to pin him down for the bombing incident.
Capanas said that the USJ-R Supreme Student Council and College of Law will push through with a prayer vigil in support of Lazaga tonight.But he said Lazaga was “advised by his lawyer” not to attend the vigil “so as not to preempt the investigation” of the bombing by the SC.
Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama said he supports the SC investigation but said there have been many cases where an innocent man was charged. “We should be very careful especially if they (accusers) cannot show video or hard evidence,” he said.
In Talisay City, councilors passed a resolution asking the SC to decentralize the Bar examinations starting next year. The resolution cited the “long existing clamor” for the examinations to be conducted in venues in the Visayas and Mindanao “for economic and practical considerations.”
“With the current advances in communication and information technology, the safety and integrity of the examinations can be guaranteed, even as Court personnel in Cebu are very much qualified to administer the tests,” the resolution read in part.
Councilor Romeo Villarante, who authored the resolution, said that the DLSU tragedy “highlighted the need to hold smaller numbers of examinees in a venue if only to secure (them) and better control each stage of the bar examinations.” /WITH INQUIRER
Cebu Daily News | Cebu's Only Independent Newspaper
COPS now closer to identifying BAR Exams bombing suspect
Originally Posted by jedcares
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