By Dominic B. dela Cruz
Staff Reporter
Batac City—After ordering former Dingras Mayor Marynette Gamboa’s arrest, Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 17 Presiding Judge Felix C. Salvador has also handed down another order for the immediate release of Mrs. Gamboa on July 23, 2019.
The release order stemmed from a pending appeal at the Office of the President.
The former Dingras mayor appealed the Ilocos Norte provincial prosecutor’s finding of probable cause against her as a co-conspirator in the killing of the late Ilocos Norte Electric Cooperative board president Lorenzo Ruiz on September 4, 2009.
Judge Salvador immediately ordered the former mayor’s release on July 23, 2019 pending the appeal.
The order further states that proceedings against the accused in this case should be suspended until her appeal in the said office is finally resolved with finality.
With the new court order, the warrant of arrest issued against the former mayor was effectively set aside.
The court order was served on July 24, 2019, after which Mrs. Gamboa was released.
BJMP Batac J/Sr. Insp. Antonio Sapaden confirmed the release of Mrs. Gamboa based on the release order issued by Judge Salvador.
Mr. Sapaden in an interview said the BJMP “never gave any VIP nor special treatment to the former mayor”.
“Ditoy BJMP ket awan tay VIP wennu special treatment a makunkuna ket tunggalPDL [person deprived of liberty] ket agpapada iti treatment a maipapaay kadakuada,” Mr. Sapaden said.
Mr. Sapaden is also hoping that the former mayor would find a solution for the jail’s long-time problem of lack of water supply as she promised to help once she is released.
Earlier, the police arrested former Dingras Mayor Marynette Romero Gamboa, 55, is now at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in this city to face multiple charges filed against her related to the 2009 killing of a former Ilocos Norte Electric Cooperative board president.
Ms. Gamboa was on a hospital arrest for more than a week after her blood pressure shot up in a court trial before the sala of RTC Branch 17 Judge Felix Salvador in this city.
In a radio interview, J/Sr. Insp. Antonio Sapaden Jr., Batac BJMP jail warden confirmed that Ms. Gamboa is under their custody and there is no special treatment accorded to the former town mayor.
Earlier, Judge Salvador ordered Gamboa’s attending physician, Dr. Quintin Cocson Jr. to discharge the patient from the hospital and turn her over to the BJMP here.
“The sickness for which the accused was diagnosed does not require prolonged confinement. Many people have been found out to be suffering from such ailment and they do not stay long in any hospital. Besides, the accused has stayed in the hospital long enough for any medication adjustment,” said the July 10, 2019 order signed by the presiding judge of Regional Trial Court Branch 17.
The Eastwood police station and the Regional Intelligence Division (RID) of the Police Regional Office 1 arrested Ms. Gamboa at a condominium in Quezon City by virtue of an arrest warrant issued by Judge Salvador for allegedly masterminding the botched ambush of current Dingras Mayor Joefrey Saguid and the killing of INEC board president Lorenzo Rey Ruiz in 2009. (with a report from Leilanie G. Adriano)