Last month, the blog posted that Janet Lim-Napoles could be brought to the Senate on a Senate subpoena only upon order of the RTC Makati.
The Senate had issued a subpoena, and yesterday afternoon, the RTC Makati announced that it would allow the accused Lim-Napoles to be transported to Roxas Boulevard on Nov. 7 to to attend the Senate hearing, according to the news dailies. i guess… the clerk of court typed up or would type up an order for the judge’s signature. Or… i guess the judge made the announcement in open court with the parties present so it had the effect of an order.
Normally… unless an emergency is involved, before the Court moves the body of the accused around, across cities, etc., it issues an order and the accused’s lawyer and next of kin is informed (normally — if it is not an emergency — the parties are notified beforehand).
Normally, the procedure followed here is, the PNP appears before the judge in open court and informs him/her that there is a need to move the accused around, etc. etc.
So i guess… the judge followed the normal procedure for non-emergency moving around of the accused…
Can a senator criminally charged with plunder be suspended from office?
By motion. In the litigated criminal case in the Sandiganbayan. (that is, after the Information or formal criminal charge is filed in the Sandiganbayan. After arrest. After arraignment. A senator’s detention prevents him/her only from physically attending, but you could say that technically, he/she is not necessarily legally suspended from office without any order from the court or a body with jurisdiction).
After motion, the other party may oppose. There will be a hearing on the motion. Then the court will grant or deny or dismiss the motion. If the court grants the motion, it will serve the order on the Senate.
(Can the Senate do this thru proceedings in its ethics committee? The Senate is free and authorized to conduct its own proceedings. But this is separate and distinct from the plunder case, it is not part of the plunder case, it is not the ancillary remedy contemplated by law in the plunder case.)
The Ombudsman has promised, under oath (during the budget hearing) that she will complete the preliminary investigation inside of a year.
