The Court of Appeals has junked a petition of former Makati City Mayor Roberto Brillante who assailed an earlier ruling of a regional trial court denying his appeal for the lifting of the hold departure order imposed against him, in connection with the libel case of which he was convicted.
In a decision, the CA’s Special 11th Division through Associate Justice Pedro Corales denied the petition filed by Brillante questioning the orders of the Makati City Regional Trial Court, Branch 145, denying his Motion to Lift Hold Departure Order and his motion for reconsideration.
The HDO was issued by the RTC against Brillante on June 15, 1992 after he was charged with five counts of libel initiated by then Makati City mayor and now Vice President Jejomar Binay.
In 2004, the Supreme Court affirmed Brillante’s conviction and ordered him to pay moral damages to Binay and Francisco Baloloy in the amount of more than P500,000 with subsidiary imprisonment in case of insolvency.
In its Nov. 3, 2015 ruling, the appellate court dismissed Brillante’s petition and upheld the ruling of the lower court to deny his appeal for the lifting of HDO.
“With Brillante’s failure to pay the pecuniary liabilities imposed upon him, the RTC acted within the ambit of law when it denied his motion to lift the HDO,” the CA stressed.
“To countenance such refusal and simply allow Brillante to travel abroad would render nugatory the imposition of subsidiary penalty in case he fails to pay the fine imposed upon him,” the appellate court ruled.
Associate Justices Sesinando Villon and Nina Antonio-Valenzuela concurred with the ruling.