Judge Warns N. Ecija Ex-Mayor Charged with Murder

By Leonard D. Postrado

MANILA, Philippines --- The arraignment of an ailing former Nueva Ecija town mayor, tagged in the murder of brothers Ericson and Ebertson Pascual and three others at a cockpit arena in 2006, has been postponed anew by a Manila court on Monday, but not without a warning from the presiding judge.

Lawyer Dante Jimenez, Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) founding chairman and president, said Judge Virgilio Almeda of the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 10 has deferred the arraignment ex-Gapan, Nueva Ecija Mayor Ernesto Natividad.

The former mayor?s counsel informed the court that Natividad, who is suffering from a kidney disorder, is not physically fit to attend the hearing.

Almeda warned Natividad's counsel that the former Mayor could no longer skip his next scheduled arraignment, which was moved on Friday, February 22. Natividad?s arraignment was first scheduled last February 11.

The former mayor?s lawyers claimed their client was too frail he could not even stand up.

Based on court records, the Pascual brothers and three others were killed inside a cockpit arena owned by the Pascual Family in Gapan, Nueva Ecija on March 20, 2006.

The killing was allegedly perpetrated by Natividad, who was then an incumbent mayor of the said municipality.

The DOJ initially ordered the filing of murder charges against the suspects in 2009, and the case was forwarded to the Office of the Ombudsman for review because a public official was involved.

Then Ombudsman Merceditas Guttierez affirmed the DOJ ruling on Feb. 10, 2009, but later reversed this in an April 8, 2009, order and excluded the Natividads and Peralta from the murder case. The Pascuals then filed a motion for reconsideration.

When Conchita Carpio-Morales took the helm of the Office of the Ombudsman, she reversed the 2009 ruling of Gutierrez, which excluded the Natividads from the murder case.

Natividad, who had a bounty of P1 million, was arrested last Jan. 31, 2012 while having a dialysis treatment in a hospital in Quezon City.

The former mayor is at the Manila Doctors Hospital and is undergoing diagnostic examination. ?His lawyer said Natividad has to undergo dialysis twice a week.

Source: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/394614/judge-warns-n-ecija-exmayor-charged-with-murder

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