Davao court quashes common crime raps vs political prisoner
DAVAO CITY—The Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Tagum City quashed the charges of common crimes against political prisoner Porferio D. Tuna Jr., former spokesperson of the New People’s Army (NPA) in Southern Mindanao, as lawyers argued these charges were already absorbed in the crime of rebellion he faced in another court in Davao de Oro province.
Tuna, 60, also known as Danny, Ampong, or Ka Simon Santiago, was arrested on Oct. 2, 2024 during a joint police and military operation in Purok Magkidong, Barangay Mankilam, Tagum City, the provincial capital of Davao del Norte.
He has been identified as the second deputy secretary and an executive committee member of the Southern Mindanao regional committee of the NPA, the military arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).
‘Landmark’
In 2016, Tuna was a member of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, the broad alliance that included the CPP-NPA, that restarted peace negotiation with the government at the start of the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte. The talks collapsed in 2017 amid continued clashes between state troops and communist guerillas and disagreement over the release of political prisoners.
In a ruling that defense lawyers described as “landmark,” the court applied the Hernandez Doctrine, a decades-old Supreme Court precedent which prohibits the separate prosecution of common crimes—such as kidnapping and robbery—when committed in furtherance of a political uprising or rebellion.
Tagum City RTC Branch 31 Presiding Judge Arlene I. Lirag-Palabrica, in her ruling released on Dec. 19, granted the motion to quash the charges of serious illegal detention and robbery with violence against Tuna.
Tuna’s defense counsels from the Union of People’s Lawyers in Mindanao (UPLM), in a statement Monday, hailed the decision.
“In a landmark ruling, the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 31 of Tagum City has ordered the immediate release of activist and community leader Porferio D. Tuna Jr., quashing separate charges of serious illegal detention and robbery with Violence,” the UPLM said in the statement.
The UPLM has earlier argued that the various criminal charges filed against him in different courts were mostly “politically motivated” and “arose from his involvement in social activism.”
Continuing offenses
In her order granting the defense’ motion to quash, Lirag-Palabrica ruled that the common crimes charged against Tuna were legally absorbed by his pending charge of rebellion before the RTC Branch 57 in Mabini town of Davao de Oro.
Lirag-Palabrica also noted from the original affidavit complaint that Tuna and his companions identified themselves as members of the NPA during the incident.
The Court also recognized that crimes like rebellion and kidnapping were considered “continuing offenses” under certain circumstances, further justifying the “quashal of the separate information,” the lawyers said.
She also ordered Tuna’s immediate release. However, Tuna would have to remain in detention because of another case of rebellion he was facing in Mabini.
