Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Jason Ivler in hot water; what about his mother?

After two months of hiding, fugitive Jason Ivler has finally been apprehended by NBI operatives.

Ivler is suspected to be involved in two separate incidents on the road, one leading to reckless imprudence resulting to homicide (2004) and the other leading to murder (2009).

With the arrest of Ivler, authorities score some brownie points, showing that not everyone can get away from the (long?) arm of the law.

Ivler was not as cooperative though. He seemed to have tapped into his inner Scarface, firing upon the arresting officers, injuring two in the process.

Jason Ivler Ivler is dead meat for sure. What about his mother Marlene Pollard, who said that her son was in Hawaii when weeks later her son was found in her very own home?

P.D. 1829 deals with crimes relating to obstruction of justice, the pertinent provisions of which are:
Section 1. The penalty of prision correccional in its maximum period, or a fine ranging from 1,000 to 6,000 pesos, or both, shall be imposed upon any person who knowingly or willfully obstructs, impedes, frustrates or delays the apprehension of suspects and the investigation and prosecution of criminal cases by committing any of the following acts: xxx

(c) harboring or concealing, or facilitating the escape of, any person he knows, or has reasonable ground to believe or suspect, has committed any offense under existing penal laws in order to prevent his arrest prosecution and conviction; xxx

(i) giving of false or fabricated information to mislead or prevent the law enforcement agencies from apprehending the offender or from protecting the life or property of the victim; or fabricating information from the data gathered in confidence by investigating authorities for purposes of background information and not for publication and publishing or disseminating the same to mislead the investigator or to the court. Ms Pollard can take refuge in the fact that there is a seeming inconsistency between par (c) and Art. 20 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC). The RPC exempts from criminal liability any person who harbors or conceals a descendant who is a principal of a crime.

Since P.D 1829 did not expressly repeal the RPC provision, Ms Pollard can argue that RPC will apply in this case (since it is favorable to her, the accused).

She will have a harder time as to par (i) of P.D. 1829. What is undeniable is that she gave a statement in December that her son was in Hawaii. That may or may not be true at the time she said it. But if it's not, I cannot see how she can escape an unfavorable verdict.


Photo: State Library of New South Wales collection, Flickr, The Commons

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Lacson and the Immunity from Arrest

JP Lopez of Malaya Insights reports that senate president Juan Ponce Enrile will give protection to senator Panfilo Lacson in case he gets arrested.

The Constitution provides that a senator is privileged from arrest for offenses punishable for not more than six years imprisonment.

Lacson, who is being linked to the Dacer-Corbito murder case, can face around 17-40 years of jail time.

This means that if the charges push through, Lacson will NOT be immune from arrest. The question of whether the senate is in session or not is irrelevant (The question of bail is another matter).

I am not implying that Lacson is culpable. That is not the point. But I'm just wondering, why would senator Enrile go out of his way to help his colleague, while allowing another (Antonio Trillanes IV) to languish in jail? You know the saying, what's sauce for the goose and all that?

Just asking.


Photo: Tim Pierce, Los Gatos, Flickr, Creative Commons


Sunday, January 10, 2010

Where's My 2010 Calendar?

To tell you honestly, 2009 had left me drained. So I'm really glad it's already 2010. Time to change the calendar.

However, no one gave us new calendars, as in the past. You know those calendars from so-and-so hardware, or even the calendars with pictures of religious icons? None. Nada. Zip.

Anyway, it's easy enough to print those calendars, with so many out there in the web. A friend pointed out to me a calendar by Ramon Bautista. Remember the titillating (some say tacky) cigarette and liquor calendars? Well take a look for yourself, click here for a peek. 3 parts funny, 1 part commentary. 100% genius.
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