Negros judiciary staging
‘court holiday’ today, too
BY CARLA GOMEZ

Members of the judiciary in Negros Occidental are joining a nationwide court holiday today in solidarity with Chief Justice Renato Corona who has been impeached by members of the House of Representatives.

This was announced by Bacolod Regional Trial Court Judge Franklin Demonteverde, national president of the Philippine Judges Association, yesterday.

The House impeachment complaint accused Corona of "betrayal of public trust" in making decisions favorable to former president Gloria Arroyo, while also accusing him of personal corruption for allegedly siphoning money from judicial funds.

Six Nationalist People’s Coalition congressmen from Negros Occidental and Bacolod are among the members of the House majority who impeached Supreme Court Justice Renato Corona.

The six are Representatives Julio Ledesma III (1st District), Alfredo Marañon III (2nd District), Alfredo Abelardo Benitez (3rd District), Jeffrey Ferrer (4th District), Mercedes Alvarez (6th District) and Anthony Golez (Bacolod).

Rep. Ignacio Arroyo Jr. (5th District-KAMPI), who is out of the country, could not be reached for comment.

An alleged former member of the Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade, tagged as the gunman in the fatal shooting of a policeman in Bacolod City last month, surrendered to the police yesterday.

Benjie Trabajada Jalandoni, 39, of Brgy. Camansi in Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental was interrogated at Police Station 6 in Bacolod City.

Supt. Santiago Rapiz, who facilitated Jalandoni’s transfer from Kabankalan City police to the Bacolod City police station 6, said the suspect surrendered so he could clarify his name after he was informed that the police had charged him for the killing of Police Officer 3 Rolando Malate.