The petition was filed by Nashrudin Cambang and Mohammad Cosain who were arrested without warrant in Koronadal City on July 9 and have remained in detention at the Koronadal City police detention cell since.
The petition was raffled off Monday morning and landed in the sala of Judge Laureano Alzate of the Regional trial Court branch 25, who, court employees said, filed a sick leave that day.
On the same day, however, the City Prosecution Office also in Koronadal filed complaints of attempted murder against Cosain and Cambang, prompting the suspects’ lawyer, Joe Ledda, to ask if the filing of complaints in court serves as a legal basis for the continued detention of the suspects.
Ledda stressed the continued detention of Cosain and Cambang is illegal because no warrant of arrest was issued against them.
The suspects were arrested on July 9 — two days after an improvised explosive device went off inside a bus owned by the Yellow Bus Line parked inside the terminal in Koronadal City. No one was hurt.Members of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP), together with elements of the South Cotabato provincial police, arrested Cosain and Cambang.
The arrest was also questioned by M’lang vice-mayor Lito Pinol who also denounced the arrest.
“How intelligent is their intelligence gathering? With what they did, it seems this community does not possess intelligence at all. They should have checked and re-checked their facts. They should have undergone background information on the subject persons before they did the arrest,” he said, adding Cosain is the son of the town’s agriculture technician.
“I can say with all certainty, Cosain is clean. His family is clean. They demand justice for what happened,” said Pinol. He stressed the municipal government and other members of the legislative council will extend legal assistance to the family.
Ledda said they have documents and witnesses to prove his clients were not involved in the bombing. (Malu Cadelina Manar/MindaNews)
