REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINESTHIRD JUDICIAL REGIONREGIONAL TRIAL COURTBranch 74, Olongapo City

PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, Plaintiff,CASE NO. 865-14FOR: MURDER versus -L/CPL JOSEPH SCOTT PEMBERTON,Accused.x----------------------------------------x

URGENT EX-PARTE MOTION FOR CORRECTION OF THE ARREST WARRANT

PRIVATE COMPLAINANT MARILOU S. LAUDE, by counsel, respectfully files this Urgent Ex-Parte Motion for Correction of the Arrest Warrant, and states that:

1. On 16 December 2014, the Honorable Court issued an arrest warrant against Accused Joseph Scott Pemberton in connection with the murder of Jeffrey Jennifer Laude.

2. However, the arrest warrant for said Accused was addressed to Any officer of the law through the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Pasay City (emphasis supplied).

3. Consequently, there might be serious difficulties implementing the arrest warrant as it is addressed through the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), which is not a law enforcement agency.

4. More importantly, coursing the arrest warrant through the DFA may subject its service and implementation to the DFAs interpretation of the legal circumstances of the Accused, thus adversely affecting the power of the Honorable Court to implement the said arrest warrant.

5. What the arrest warrant unwittingly does is to give the DFA the exclusive and plenary powers to determine the propriety of its service to the Accused.

6. But the rule is that it is still the Court that has control over any proceeding involving a jurisdictional matter brought before it, even if it may well involve the countrys relations with another foreign power. It is a legal and not a political question, properly belonging to the judicial branch and not to the political branch.

7. A very illustrative point of this was the holding of the Supreme Court in Liang (Huefeng) v. People,[footnoteRef:2] to wit: [2: G.R. No. 125865, Jan. 28, 2000.]

First, courts cannot blindly adhere and take on its face the communication from the DFA that petitioner is covered by any immunity. The DFAs determination that a certain person is covered by immunity is only preliminary which has no binding effect in courts. In receivingex-partethe DFAs advice and inmotu propriodismissing the two criminal cases without notice to the prosecution, the latters right to due process was violated. It should be noted that due process is a right of the accused as much as it is of the prosecution. The needed inquiry in what capacity petitioner was acting at the time of the alleged utterances requires for its resolution evidentiary basis that has yet to be presented at the proper time.At any rate, it has been ruled that the mere invocation of the immunity clause does notipso factoresult in the dropping of the charges.[footnoteRef:3] (italics in the original, internal citations omitted) [3: Id.]

8. Further, as the civil action for the recovery of civil liability arising from the offense charged[footnoteRef:4] shall be deemed instituted with the criminal action..,[footnoteRef:5] the arrest warrant in this criminal case is akin to the summons in a civil case. [4: Section 1, Rule 111 of the Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure. ] [5: Id.]

9. Hence, Private Complainant as the party to the civil action deemed instituted in this criminal action, respectfully prays that the Honorable Court ORDER the correction of the arrest warrant for Accused Joseph Scott Pemberton so that it states Any officer of the law and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Pasay City. 10. This prayer is also consistent with usual court practice addressing arrest warrants to Any officer of the law. Further, rather than coursing said warrant through the DFA, said agency is made only one of the parties involved in effecting the warrant of arrest against PFC Pemberton.

11. Moreover, this motion is urgently applied for since with the Christmas season there will be a series of legal holidays starting with 24 December 2014 wherein all the courts and government offices will be closed. These are exigent circumstances calling for the urgent consideration of this motion.

PRAYER

WHEREFORE, premises considered, it is respectfully prayed that the Honorable Court ORDER the correction of the arrest warrant for Accused Joseph Scott Pemberton so that it states Any officer of the law and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Pasay City.

Other reliefs just and equitable under the premises are likewise prayed for.Makati City for Olongapo City, 17 December 2014.ROQUE & BUTUYAN LAW OFFICESCounsel for Private Complainant Marilou S. Laude1904 Antel Corporate Center121 Valero Street, Salcedo VillageMakati City Email: mail@roquebutuyan.comTel. Nos. 887-4445/887-3894; Fax No: 887-3893

By:H. HARRY L. ROQUE, JR.Roll No. 36976PTR No. 4264493/Jan 30, 2014/MakatiIBP No. 01749/LifetimeMCLE Exemption No. IV-000513(issued on Feb 15, 2013)

ROMEL R. BAGARESRoll No. 49518PTR No. 4264492/Jan 30, 2014/MakatiIBP No. 961461/Jan 29, 2014/SocsargenMCLE Compliance No. IV-0011822(issued on Jan 25, 2013)

GILBERT TERUEL ANDRESRoll No. 56911PTR No.4264862/Jan. 30, 2014/ MakatiIBP No. 961460/Jan. 29, 2014/Negros Occ.MCLE Compliance No. IV-0011824(issued on Jan. 25, 2013)

By:VIRGINIA LACSA SUAREZCollaborating Counsel for Private Complainant LABOR ADVOCATES FOR WORKERS SERVICES (LAWS INC.)Roll No. 41145Lifetime IBP Member-LRN 05283 (April 27, 2005) PTR # 4232794/01-07-14/Makati MCLE Compliance No. IV-0022951/7-6-20133rdFloor MKP Bldg., No. 22 Libertad St.Mandaluyong City 1550CP/Tel.No.09088159923/531-07-86/87

NOTICE OF HEARING AND EXPLANATION

THE HON. CLERK OF COURT Regional Trial CourtBranch 74, Olongapo City

Pros. Emilie Fe. M. Delos Santos Counsel for the People City Prosecution OfficeOlongapo City, Zambales

ATTY ROWENA GARCIA FLORES andATTY. BENJAMIN TOLOSA, JR. Counsel for Accused Joseph Scott Pemberton9k The Fort Residences30th cor. 2nd AvenueBurgos CircleBonifacio Global City0399 TaguigMetro Manila

Please take note that the undersigned counsel will submit the foregoing Urgent Ex-Parte Motion for Correction of the Arrest Warrant for the consideration and approval of the Honorable Court immediately upon receipt, with waiver of appearance and without further arguments due to the urgency of the matter being raised.

Also, due to the shortage of messengerial services, time constraint, and distance, this Urgent Ex-Parte Motion for Correction of the Arrest Warrant is being served to other parties by registered mail in accordance with Section 11, Rule 13 of the Revised Rules of Court.

GILBERT TERUEL ANDRES

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