MILITARY investigators will decide after the Holy week
whether to proceed with the prosecution of Marine 1Lt. Artemio Raymundo Jr. who
has been in detention for over a year for allegedly distributing former
President Estrada's biopic in videodisc.
Raymundo's counsel Romel Bagares said the Navy's Judge
Advocate General, led by Capt. Christopher Ciumbal, promised that it would come
up with a resolution on the case next week.
Raymundo was ordered detained by his commanding officer at
the Field Artillery Battalion, Maj. Danilo Luna, after his fellow officers told
their superiors that he had been distributing Estrada's biopic "Ang Mabuhay Para
sa Masa" which had been banned by the Movie, Television, and Radio
Classification Board. He was investigated for conduct unbecoming (Article of War
96), conduct prejudicial to good order and military discipline (AW 97) and
disrespect toward a superior officer (AW 64).
Raymundo's lawyers earlier wrote Navy chief Vice Admiral
Rogelio Calunsag and Marine commandant Maj. Gen. Ben Dolorfino to demand his
release because "his continued detention (was) without any legal basis and a
violation of both military law and the Constitution."
Based on the manual on court martial, Raymundo's lawyers said
Luna, being only a major, could only have punished Raymundo with "15 days of
arrest in quarters or deprivation of liberty for 30 days." They also said AW 97
and 64 carry a maximum penalty of six months' confinement at hard labor while
their client has been detained for more than a year now.
"While violation of AW 96 is punishable by dismissal from the
service, it certainly does not justify our client's detention for some 15 months
now without the benefit of a speedy trial guaranteed both by military law and
the 1987 Philippine Constitution," the letter added.
The lawyers warned under the military law, an officer who is
responsible for "unnecessary delay" in the investigation or carrying the case to
its final conclusion is himself open to trial by court martial."
Bagares said Navy investigators asked for Raymundo's counter-affidavit two
days after they sent their letter. "It is apparent that had we not written them
about Lt. Raymundo's case, he would have remained in legal limbo," he said.
- Victor Reyes
