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APPELLANTS’ BRIEF People of the Philippines vs. Fortuna, et. al. S. C. G. R. No. 141660-64 Capt. Macanas testified that Joel’s arrest was effected by the PARAC and CPDC operatives at about 4:00 p.m. on June 19, 1996 (TSN, November 12, 1996, p. 28) after a stake-out which began at 2:00 p.m. that same day. Freddie Alejo was with the CPDC operatives where he was shown pictures of Alias Tabong before he was made to identify the person they arrested who turned out to be Joel de Jesus. The rest of Capt Macanas’ testimony establish the following: 1. just after Joel de Jesus was arrested, he was turned over to the CID-CPDC for investigation (p. 30); 2. on that same day, the CPDC investigators informed the team of Capt. Macanas through their superior Col. Baluyot, that Joel de Jesus “made some revelation (sic) with regard to his participation in the killing of ex-Col. Abadilla (p. 32-33); 3. Capt. Macanas and the CID-CPDC conducted joint follow-up operations where they brought Joel de Jesus along to “g[i]ve a hand in identifying his companions in the killing.” (p. 33-34); 4. Between 8:00 or 9:00 p.m. of June 19, 1996 (TSN, December 10, 1996, p. 21), the group was allegedly led by Joel de Jesus somewhere in Fairview along Ruby Street wherein his other alleged companions namely Ram, Lorenzo delos Santos, Ogie, one Alias Cesar could be found, (TSN, November 12, 1996, p. 35) based on Joel de Jesus’ purportedly volunteered information ( TSN, December 10, 1996, p. 18); 5. Joel led them to the house of Ram de Jesus but they did not find Ram there. Instead, Joel de Jesus pointed to Cesar Fortuna and the arresting team, immediately effected the arrest of the latter, minutes before midnight. (TSN, November 12, 1996, pp. 36-40); 6. Past midnight that same evening, the operatives apprehended Lorenzo delos Santos. (TSN, __________) look for transcript. This chain of events leading to the arrest of Cesar Fortuna and Lorenzo delos Santos establish that Joel de Jesus was interrogated by the police operatives just hours after his arrest on June 19, 1996. Based on information extracted from Joel de Jesus, without informing him of his Constitutional rights and without the assistance of counsel, the police operatives established the names of the other accused in this case. From the foregoing account of Capt. Macanas, it is clear that Joel de Jesus was already subjected to police questioning and interrogation on June 19, 1996, just after he Page 84 of 127 84
APPELLANTS’ BRIEF People of the Philippines vs. Fortuna, et. al. S. C. G. R. No. 141660-64 was arrested. Such interrogation was conducted upon the person of Joel de Jesus without the assistance of any counsel. In fact, this corroborates the assertion made by Joel de Jesus that he was asked a lot of questions after he was tortured into admitting his participation in the crime. Such interrogation made by police officers without any assistance from a competent counsel reeks of utter disregard of the suspect’s Constitutional rights. And taking into account that Joel de Jesus was arrested not just by a single police officers but by joint operatives from the PARAC and the CPDC, the pressure that police investigators were into in solving the ambush-slay of a well-known military personnel, we are reminded of this Court’s description of custodial investigations in People vs. Deniega: “In fine, the likelihood for compulsion is forcefully apparent in every custodial investigation. A person compelled under the circumstances obtaining in every custodial investigation is surrounded by psychologically hostile forces and the threat of physical violence so that the information extracted is hardly voluntary. In the oftentimes highly intimidating setting of a police investigation, the potential for suggestion is strong.” (People vs. Deniega, 251 SCRA 627, 641) Yet, the prosecution tried to convince the court through documentary and testimonial evidence that Joel de Jesus executed his extra-judicial confession on June 20, 1996 at the office of the IBP Quezon City Chapter properly, orderly and with the assistance of Atty. Confesor B. Sansano. If, indeed, the extra-judicial confession of Joel de Jesus was regularly taken only between 1:10 and 5:55 p.m. of June 20, 1996, with the assistance of a competent counsel and without any force, violence, intimidation, threat or torture, how come that the police operatives were already able to ascertain the names of the other accused in this case and had, in fact, arrested Cesar Fortuna and Lorenzo delos Santos on the midnight of June 19, 1996? The fact is, as Joel de Jesus related before the court, that he was tortured and forced to admit his participation in the ambush slay of the late Col. Rolando Abadilla, Page 85 of 127 85
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