THE Department of Justice has dismissed for lack of merit the obstruction of justice complaint that a parent filed against officials of the British School Manila after her son jumped off the school building in Taguig City in February last year.
In a resolution dated June 16, 2016, the DoJ noted that the complaint was predicated on the death of Mrs. Trixie Madamba’s 18-year-old son, Liam Madamba, a BSM student.
Based on records, Liam died of cardiac arrest as a result of his jumping off a building on Feb. 6, 2015 but no criminal investigation was initiated relative to Liam’s death and no criminal charges were filed against his teacher Natalie Mann.
The DoJ emphasized that there being no criminal investigation, there is no basis for obstruction of justice as there could be no investigation to obstruct, impede, frustrate, or delay. Otherwise, it would be too general, amounting to a fishing expedition which would run contrary to the purpose of Presidential Decree No. 1829.
The DoJ likewise ruled that there was no obstruction of justice committed when Mann was allowed to go on a leave of absence and eventually resign from BSM because she could not be considered a suspect for any criminal violation in relation to Liam’s death.
A careful examination of affidavits from Mrs. Madamba likewise showed that the evidence presented was contradicted by a second student involved in the incident and did not even pass the test of probable cause for any crime that the complainant alleged.
The resolution further noted that the respondents were charged for being members of BSM’s Council of Trustees or Board of Governors without showing the participation of each respondent.
In fact, the resolution said, the complaint even included as respondent, one Andrew Logan, who was not even a member of the Board of Governors during the relevant period of the complaint.
In a statement, British School Manila’s Chair of the Board of Governors Simon Bewlay affirmed that “BSM echoes the Prosecutor’s empathy with Mrs. Madamba over the tragic loss of her son, but is grateful for the thoughtful, objective decision.”
“On behalf of Simon Mann, Brendan Egan, Stein Melsbo, Bart Edes, Paul Ingram, Alison Doig Henderson, Trevor Lewis, Bill Tweddell, Andrew Logan, Alan Hearn, Anne Haslam, David Gold, Martyn Turner, Angel Guerrero, and Catherine Tantoco-Daniels and myself – as well as teacher Natalie Mann – we welcome the dismissal of this criminal complaint in its entirety. BSM puts the well-being and education of its students first at all times. This is, and always will be, the school’s driving ethos,” Bewley concluded.