By Edgar Cadagat

"When it rains, it pours" appear to be the continuing lot of Chief Prosecutor Armando Abanado, who is facing, for the second time a complaint filed before the Supreme Court (SC) and the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) from the former live-in partner of the late big time businessman, Benedict Gochangco.

The notarized letter-complaint sent to both judicial bodies, by complainant, Ma. Lita Fe (surname omitted), was sent by her to the Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno and to the JBC in what she indicated was her objection/opposition to the application for judgeship of Bacolod City Prosecutor Armando P. Abanado, who is applying with the RTC in Bacolod City. Saying she was writing the complaint from a Women’s Crisis Center where she and her six-month old baby are temporarily living in, Ma. Lita, repeated what she said was her traumatic ordeal after Abanado and another city prosecutor Hermes Arino, filed qualified theft charges against her upon the arraignment with her late live-in partner, Gochangco.

Both City prosecutor tolerated and abetted the filing of the charges against her, which resulted in the issuance of a warrant of arrest because the jewelries she supposedly stole from her late common-law husband, exceeded more than a million pesos. This when the jurisprudence which every lawyer knows does not allow the filing of such cases when those involved are husbands and wives, she said in her letter. Because she was also to file a counter-affidavit on the case filed against her as she did not recieve any subpoena on the matter. Worse, another case for frustrated murder was also filed against her and which would have worsened her situation had she not been aided by the Women’s Crisis Center headed by Sr. Mary John Mananzan and without the legal assistance of well-known women’s and child-ren’s rights lawyer, Rowena Guanzon of the Gender Justice Network.

Aside from the charges filed against her which could have totally destroyed her life, she was arrested by 20 NBI agents in Cavite where she filed after she endured physical and mental, including emotional abuses from Benedict Gochang-co. She was later detained in jail at Handumanan BJMP for 44 days along with her baby. Only after her lawyer filed for the dismissal of the complaint against her was she ordered released by the RTC Judge after the reinvestigation by City Prosecutor Dennis Jarder, who absolved her of the criminal case.

Because of what Abanado had done to her, Ma. Fe. said he does not deserve to be a judge in the RTC. Women’s Crisis Center (WCC) Chairperson Sr. Mary John Mananzan and Executive Officer Theresa Balayon has endorsed Ma. Fe’s request to former SC Chief Justice Reynato Puno who, in return, forwarded it to JBC for action.

The JBC in turn asked Abanado to comment on the complaint of the victim. Earlier, Ma Fe. also filed criminal and administrative charges against the two city prosecutors before the office of the Chief Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez. She asked that the two be dismissed from office.*