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SC reprimands judge for improper social media posts

Supreme Court (File photo) MANILA - The Supreme Court has admonished a La Union Regional Trial Court judge for posting photos of himself half-dressed and exposing his tattoo art. In a decision uploaded on May 13, the SC Second Division found Judge Romeo Atillo Jr. guilty of conduct unbecoming of a judge and sternly warned that a repetition of the same shall be dealt with more severely. The Court reminded the magistrate "to be more circumspect in his professional and personal dealings in social media". Atillo claimed that his Facebook account was hacked on Aug. 11, 2019 and his privacy setting was set from private to public. He also claimed the photos were only meant for him and his friends and not for public viewing. The Court held that "setting posts or profile details' privacy is no assurance that it can no longer be viewed by another user who is not Facebook friends with the source of the content". The Court said all social media users face the same risks when sharing content in cyberspace. "The Court once again reminds judges to mindful of what they communicate in social networking sites -- regardless of whether it is a personal matter or a part of his or her judicial functions -- as such content indubitably creates and contributes to the public's perception not only of the concerned judges, but, more importantly, of the Judiciary as a whole," it said. Printed copies of photos allegedly posted by Atillo used as "cover photos" and "profile pictures" on Facebook were received by the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA). The OCA found Atillo guilty of violating the New Code of Judicial Conduct, as well as OCA Circular No. 173-2017 when he posted the subject photos on his Facebook account and recommended a PHP15,000 fine and that he be reprimanded with a stern warning. The Court adopted the findings of the OCA but modified the penalties. It agreed with the OCA that Atillo "had breached his duty to avoid impropriety, or even just the appearance of impropriety, when he posted the subject pictures showing his half-dressed body and tattooed torso on his Facebook account that eventually became readily accessible to the general public". Citing its 2014 ruling in Lorenzana v. Judge Austria, the Court held that "while judges are not prohibited from becoming members of and from taking part in social networking activities, we remind them that they do not thereby shed off their status as judges". In the Lorenzana case, the respondent judge was found guilty of impropriety when she posted photos of herself wearing an "off-shoulder" suggestive dress on a social networking site and made it available for public viewing. The Court clarified that the impropriety relates solely to the judge's "act of posting the subject picture on social media, and it has absolutely nothing to do with his choice to have tattoos on his body". "Simply put, by posting the pictures on Facebook, [the respondent judge] placed himself in a situation where he, and the status he holds as a sitting judge, became the object of the public's criticism and ridicule," the SC said. (PNA) }

Manila , Philippines , Austria , Romeo-atillo-jr , Supreme-court , Sc-second-division , Facebook , Office-of-the-court-administrator , Union-regional-trial-court , Judge-romeo-atillo , Court-administrator , New-code

SC warns La Union judge for 'half-dressed' photos online │ GMA News Online

The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday warned a judge of the La Union Regional Trial Court (RTC) after photos on his Facebook account showed him half-dressed, revealing the tattoos on his upper body.

Supreme-court , Court-second-division , Facebook , Office-of-the-court-administrator , Union-regional-trial-court , High-court , Justice-henri-jean-paul , Second-division , Conduct-unbecoming , New-code , Judicial-conduct

Balesin trip has nothing to do with Ongpin case: PNP chief

PNP chief, Gen. Dionardo Carlos (File photo) MANILA - Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief, Gen. Dionardo Carlos, has denied claims made by some groups that he went to the exclusive island resort of Balesin to meet with the Ongpin family to discuss the case of a scion who has been linked to the death of contemporary artist Bree Jonson in September last year. "There is no truth to the reported claim of the Jonson camp that I went to the island to meet the Ongpins to discuss the case of Julian Ongpin," Carlos said in a statement Wednesday night. Former trade minister and businessman Roberto Ongpin, the owner of Alphaland Corp. that owns and operates the exclusive resort, is the father of 29-year-old Julian. Julian was the boyfriend of the 30-year-old Jonson, who was found unconscious in their hostel room in San Juan town, La Union on Sept. 18, 2021 and was later declared dead in a hospital. The cause of death was asphyxia. "The Julian Ongpin case was dismissed and is on appeal (motion for reconsideration). The DOJ (Department of Justice) and the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) have been handling the parallel investigation, long before I was appointed as chief of the PNP. Any insinuation or attempt to link me to the Ongpin family is unfounded and baseless," Carlos said. Carlos made headlines for his Balesin visit after the PNP Airbus H-125 helicopter deployed to fetch him crashed in Real, Quezon on Monday, injuring the two pilots and killing the enlisted crew member. He said he was forced to request the PNP for transportation assistance as he would not make it in time for the flag-raising ceremony in Camp Crame, Quezon City if he took the chartered flight. The La Union Regional Trial Court earlier dismissed the criminal case against Julian for lack of probable cause. Julian yielded about 12 grams of cocaine at the hostel room. According to the court, the policemen who arrested Ongpin failed to comply with the provisions of Section 21 of Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act, which requires compliance with the chain of custody of seized illegal drugs. Also lifted and set aside was the precautionary hold departure order against Ongpin. Among the lapses noted was the absence of an indication that plastic sachets of suspected cocaine were individually marked and signed by the seizing officers; processing was done without Ongpin, who was already brought by police officers to the hospital for medical examination; and no witnesses, such as representatives of the media or Department of Justice and any elected public official, who are required by law to sign the copies of the inventory. (PNA) }

Philippine , Benguet , Philippines , Manila , Camp-crame , Quezon-city , Balesin , Quezon , Julian-ongpin , Dionardo-carlos , Roberto-ongpin , Bree-jonson

State prosecutors prepare more evidence vs. Ongpin

Julian Ongpin (File photo) MANILA - Government prosecutors will present additional evidence against Julian Ongpin on Monday after the La Union Regional Trial Court (RTC) hearing the motion for reconsideration of the junked drug possession charges against the billionaire's son agreed. San Fernando, La Union RTC Branch 27 Judge Romeo Agacita Jr. ordered a video hearing, Prosecutor General Benedicto Malcontento told reporters via text message on Friday. "A presentation of evidence on the motion (is) set on December 7," Malcontento said. The La Union RTC earlier dismissed the criminal case for lack of probable cause to issue a warrant of arrest against Ongpin, who was caught with 12.685 grams of cocaine at a hostel room in San Juan town on September 18. The policemen who arrested Ongpin failed to comply with the provisions of Section 21 of Republic Act No. 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act) that requires compliance with the chain of custody of seized illegal drugs, according to the La Union RTC. Agacita also lifted and set aside the precautionary hold departure order against the 29-year-old Ongpin, whose alleged girlfriend, artist Bree Jonson, was found unconscious in the same room. Jonson, 30, was declared dead in a hospital due to asphyxia, with Ongpin claiming she died by hanging herself. Among the lapses noted were the absence of an indication that plastic sachets of suspected cocaine were individually marked and signed by the seizing officers; processing was done without Ongpin, who was already brought by police officers to the hospital for medical examination; and no witnesses, like representatives from the media or Department of Justice and any elected public officials, who are required by law to sign the copies of the inventory. "Here, there was no justifiable ground given by the arresting officers for the absence of the mandatory witnesses in their Joint Affidavit of Witnesses, Affidavit Complaint with Supplemental Joint Affidavit. Likewise, there was even no earnest efforts on their part, not even attempts to call through phone nearby barangay officials, considering that the barangay hall of Barangay Urbiztondo, San Juan, La Union is just a few meters from the place of incident," the La Union RTC ruled. (PNA) }

La-union , Sorsogon , Philippines , Manila , San-fernando , Pampanga , Romeo-agacita-jr , Benedicto-malcontento , Bree-jonson , Barangay-urbiztondo , Department-of-justice , Union-regional-trial-court

MB Daily News Update

The National Task Force (NTF) on coronavirus disease (COVID-19) hails the country’s vaccination program, which has been hailed as having the fourth highest daily vaccination rate in the world.

And it is perhaps this high vaccination rate that has led to the entire country being placed under Alert

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State prosecutors prepare more evidence vs. Ongpin

Julian Ongpin (File photo) MANILA - Government prosecutors will present additional evidence against Julian Ongpin on Monday after the La Union Regional Trial Court (RTC) hearing the motion for reconsideration of the junked drug possession charges against the billionaire's son agreed. San Fernando, La Union RTC Branch 27 Judge Romeo Agacita Jr. ordered a video hearing, Prosecutor General Benedicto Malcontento told reporters via text message on Friday. "A presentation of evidence on the motion (is) set on December 7," Malcontento said. The La Union RTC earlier dismissed the criminal case for lack of probable cause to issue a warrant of arrest against Ongpin, who was caught with 12.685 grams of cocaine at a hostel room in San Juan town on September 18. The policemen who arrested Ongpin failed to comply with the provisions of Section 21 of Republic Act No. 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act) that requires compliance with the chain of custody of seized illegal drugs, according to the La Union RTC. Agacita also lifted and set aside the precautionary hold departure order against the 29-year-old Ongpin, whose alleged girlfriend, artist Bree Jonson, was found unconscious in the same room. Jonson, 30, was declared dead in a hospital due to asphyxia. Among the lapses noted were the absence of an indication that plastic sachets of suspected cocaine were individually marked and signed by the seizing officers; processing was done without Ongpin, who was already brought by police officers to the hospital for medical examination; and no witnesses, like representatives from the media or Department of Justice and any elected public officials, who are required by law to sign the copies of the inventory. "Here, there was no justifiable ground given by the arresting officers for the absence of the mandatory witnesses in their Joint Affidavit of Witnesses, Affidavit Complaint with Supplemental Joint Affidavit. Likewise, there was even no earnest efforts on their part, not even attempts to call through phone nearby barangay officials, considering that the barangay hall of Barangay Urbiztondo, San Juan, La Union is just a few meters from the place of incident," the La Union RTC ruled. (PNA) }

La-union , Sorsogon , Philippines , Manila , San-fernando , Pampanga , Romeo-agacita-jr , Benedicto-malcontento , Bree-jonson , Barangay-urbiztondo , Department-of-justice , Union-regional-trial-court

Court to hear MR on Ongpin case dismissal Dec. 3

MANILA - The La Union Regional Trial Court (RTC) will hear next week the motion for reconsideration (MR) filed by state lawyers on the dismissal of illegal drug charges against Julian Ongpin. In a message to reporters on Friday, Prosecutor General Benedicto Malcontento said the MR was filed Thursday and has been set for hearing on December 3. "If allowed by the court, the panel (of prosecutors) will present evidence in support of the motion for reconsideration," Malcontento said of the case involving the 29-year-old son of a billionaire and former government official. In an order dated November 15, Judge Romeo Agacita Jr. of the City of San Fernando RTC Branch 27 dismissed the criminal case for lack of probable cause to issue a warrant of arrest against Ongpin, who was caught with 12.685 grams of cocaine at a hostel room on September 18. Agacita noted lapses in the cops' handling of evidence as the sachets of cocaine were not marked at once. "It could not, therefore, be determined how the unmarked drugs were handled upon confiscation. Evidently, the alteration of the seized items was a possibility absent their immediate marking thereof," the decision read. The precautionary hold departure order against Ongpin was subsequently ordered lifted. The drugs were recovered from a hotel room he shared with the late artist and alleged girlfriend, Bree Jonson, at the Flotsam Jetsam Hostel in Barangay Urbiztondo, San Juan town. Jonson, 30, was found unconscious and later declared dead in a hospital, with autopsy report declaring asphyxia as cause of death and adding she was positive for cocaine use. (PNA) }

City-of-san-fernando , Philippines , Manila , Julian-ongpin , Romeo-agacita-jr , Benedicto-malcontento , Bree-jonson , Barangay-urbiztondo , Union-regional-trial-court , Prosecutor-general-benedicto-malcontento , Judge-romeo-agacita , San-fernando

Julian Ongpin still under immigration lookout bulletin order – Sec. Guevarra

Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra

Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra on Saturday, Nov. 20, said the Bureau of Immigration (BI) has not lifted the immigration lookout bulletin order (ILBO) issued against Julian Roberto S. Ongpin despite the dismissal by the trial court of the possession of

La-union , Sorsogon , Philippines , Breanna-bree-jonson , Robertov-ongpin , Romeoe-agacita-jr , Menardoi-guevarra , Julian-robertos-ongpin , Department-of-justice , Bureau-of-immigration , National-bureau-of-investigation , Union-regional-trial-court