Regional Trial Court Judge Isaac Alvero Moran recalled Wednesday his order to free the 10 detained workers of RD Tuna Ventures Inc., surprising the lawyer of the fishermen who were charged with mutiny.
Judge Moran was said to have admitted heaving committed a mistake when he ordered, in open court, the accused freed during a hearing Tuesday on the petition for the issuance a writ of habeas corpus. Judge Moran reversed himself and said the “crime of mutiny exists†in the case of the detained workers. The judge cited Article 122 of the Revised Penal Code as amended by Republic Act 1759 in upholding the legality of the arrest of the 10 fishermen.
Lawyer Franklin Gacal Jr., counsel of the accused petitioners, said he would file a motion for reconsideration. “The petition for writ of habeas corpus is the great writ of liberty. I believe my clients are wrongly accused of a crime that does not exist,†Gacal told Philippine press.
The petitioners were arrested late last month after Rodrigo Rivera Sr., president of RDTVI, filed charges of mutiny against them. Rivera claimed the accused led crewmembers in seizing seven fishing vessels owned by the company off the coast of Papua New Guinea.
The workers, however, claimed they launched the protest action to demand better pay and benefits. They said they never had the intention of harming any member of the crew or robbing the shipping vessels. “In fact, the workers were even led by the skipper of one of the fish carriers,†Gacal said.
All crewmembers of the seven fishing vessels, numbering to around 196 workers, reportedly participated in the protests action.
Gacal earlier said the arrest was made in evident bad faith after the workers agreed to lift their protests actions upon the intervention of Philippine Ambassador to Papua New Guinea Beinvenido Tejano.
The workers told their lawyer they agreed to stop their protest after they were assured that no charges would be filed against them. But company officials denied Rivera, who was present during the dialogue presided by Tejano, made a commitment not to press charges against the workers.