Ex-NPA leader Rodolfo Salas’ arrest, detention legal: Calida

March 12, 2020

The Office of the Solicitor General on Thursday justified the legality of the arrest and detention of former New People’s Army ( NPA) leader Rodolfo Salas for his involvement in the alleged mass murder of his comrades in the 1980s.

During oral arguments before the Supreme Court, Solicitor General Jose Calida argued that Salas' detention at the Manila City Jail is pursuant to a court order, particularly the arrest warrant issued by a judge in the Manila City Regional Trial Court.

"Your Honors, given that Salas is confined under a lawful order, the proper remedy is to pursue the orderly course of the criminal proceedings and exhaust the usual remedies," Calida said in his opening statement.

The high court is hearing the habeas corpus petition filed by Salas' son, Jody, who is seeking the release of his father, saying the murder case is absorbed in his rebellion conviction in 1991.

Through the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG), the petitioner insisted that his father’s conviction, for which he had finished serving his sentence, was based on a plea bargain agreement shielding him from future prosecution for all common crimes.

Salas was arrested last month for 15 counts of murder over the 2006 discovery of the skeletal remains of alleged victims of the communist purge in the 1980s. The accused is set to be arraigned on March 17.

Calida said a petition for habeas corpus is the wrong remedy as the elder Salas was legally arrested. The ordinary remedy would be for Salas to file a motion to quash the murder charges at the RTC, Calida added. DMS