An incumbent municipal councilor of Lopez town in Quezon province should not have been thrown into jail as he never committed any crime, he and his lawyer told the National Press Club Tuesday.
Lawyer Freddie Villamor, representing Councilor Manuel “Arkie” Yulde, said his client was a free man after the three cases filed against him were dismissed. Yulde was in jail for five months.
“Hindi ko alam kung papaano ko makakamit ang katarungan. Ako po ay kumapit na lamang sa panalangin sa Diyos na sana po igiya niya ko papunta po sa kalayaan at makamtan ang hustisya [I didn’t know how I would achieve justice. I was holding on to God in prayer that He would bring me to freedom and to justice],” the councilor said in NPC’s “Meet the Press.”
Yulde also said he cannot forgive those who ruined his family’s reputation.
“Ang kinamatay po ng tatay ko ay atake sa puso habang nag-iisip kung papaano po kami makakabuwelta sa paninira pong ginawa sa akin, sa pangalan po ng aking pamilya [My father died from a heart attack while trying to think how we can get back at those who slandered our name and my family],” he shared.
Yulde, who is a critic of a politician in Quezon, was jailed last September based on a case of rape and kidnapping filed by a group on behalf of the alleged rape victim.
The councilor was recently released after Villamor presented evidence that the charges against him were also fake, including that of the supposed rape victim.
Yulde mentioned that his relatives are public servants.
“Sa akin po bilang konsehal ng bayan, ito po ang dinanas ko dahil lamang po sa paghahanap ng katotohanan, paghahanap po ng katarungan at paghahanap po ng malinis na pamahalaan dito sa ating bayan [For me, as a councilor of our town, I went through this only because I sought the truth, sought justice and good government in our town],” the councilor said.
Meanwhile, NPC President Paul Gutierrez said Jaime Aquino, the Pangasinan correspondent for a national daily, was behind Yulde’s imprisonment. Aquino was immediately expelled from the press club, he added.
“We don’t know what is worse—media groups inventing journalists as victims of violence so they can get funding from abroad or, members of the press concocting bogus charges against prominent personalities in exchange for money,” Gutierrez said.
“We are now announcing the expulsion of Mr. Jaime Aquino from the roster of NPC members without any possibility of reinstatement,” he added.
Aquino could not be contacted for comment as of press time.