The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday said it will file charges against detainee Jad Dera and six security officers of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) who escorted him in leaving the NBI detention facility without a court order last month
The DOJ said the criminal information against Dera, NBI Security Officer II Randy Godoy, and NBI job order personnel Arnel Ganzon, Diana Rose Novelozo, Lee Eric Loreto, King Jeroh Martin, and Pepe Peidad Jr. will be filed before the Manila City Regional Trial Court.
The DOJ stressed that Godoy will be charged for violation of Article 223 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC), while Dera and the others will be charged for violation of Article 156.
“After evaluation of the evidence, the assigned prosecutor found sufficient evidence to hold the respondents for trial,” the DOJ said in a statement.
“There is probable cause in finding that Dera induced Godoy, Ganzon, Novelozo, Loreto, Martin, and Piedad to assist [his] escape from prison and that Godoy, Ganzon, Novelozo, Loreto, Martin, and Piedad facilitated the escape of Dera from his detention facility,” it added.
Dera and the security personnel were nabbed in June after leaving the facility using an NBI-marked vehicle “under the pretense of a medical check-up” and without a court order.
“Thereafter, it was discovered that they met with Dera’s female friend and went to share a meal in a restaurant in Makati City,” the DOJ said.
The DOJ noted that authorities seized P100,000 from Dera, P10,000 from Godoy, and P11,000 from Veloso.
It said the cash “appeared to be the respondents’ payment for escorting out Dera from the detention facility.”
Dera’s legal counsel, Raymund Palad, said the words “appeared to be” indicated that the prosecution was not sure of the alleged bribery.
“The words ‘appeared to be’ show that the prosecutor is not even sure if the money recovered from Godoy was the result of bribery. Pure conjectures,” he told reporters.
Palad said he has read the press briefer of the DOJ though he has yet to review the resolution.
“[I]t corroborates our previous stance that there exists no substantiated evidence of bribery or corruption involving public officials whatsoever,” he said.
“Moreover, the notion that Dera’s dining outside the confines of detention equates to an ‘escape’ within the context of legal terminology is unsupported. It is imperative to highlight that no indications of Dera eluding the jail facility have been brought forward,” he added.
During a Senate hearing, Dera admitted that he was able to leave the NBI facility multiple times, and only one of those trips had a court order.
He said he was able to leave the NBI’s detention facility on January 20, 2022, to have himself checked in a hospital in Manila which was authorized by a court order dated December 10, 2021.
Dera also admitted that he was able to leave the detention facility for the second time to go to another hospital and have his heart checked, but this time he had no approval from the court.
The third time that he was able to leave the NBI was on Father’s Day this year and the fourth time was on June 20, reportedly for a date, when he and five NBI jail guards were nabbed.
Aside from being able to go in and out of the facility, the DOJ said Dera also enjoyed other privileges while at the NBI such as good food and sleeping conditions.