Nuñal lawyer blocks Lim’s request to travel abroad

LIM

EPHRAIM Nuñal, the nurse shot in a traffic altercation with David Lim Jr., has opposed Lim’s request to allow him to travel abroad for a weeklong cruise with his family in the United States and Canada.

In a pleading filed in court, Nuñal’s lawyer Mundlyn Misal-Martin said there are no compelling reasons for Lim to leave the country.

“If the accused is allowed to leave the Philippines without sufficient reason, it would place him beyond the reach of the courts,” she said.

“With his money and influence, it is probable that he is never going back to the country and face this allegation to the damage and prejudice of the victim,” she added.

Instead of letting Lim go abroad, Martin appealed to the court to set Lim’s arraignment as soon as possible.

Lim’s lawyers Gilbert Viloria and Conrado Sarmiento Jr. earlier asked the court’s permission to allow Lim to join his family for a trip abroad.

They said Lim and his family already booked a cruise tour from Alaska, USA to Vancouver in Canada from May 29 to June 2, 2017 a year ago and bought the airline tickets last December.

Lim and his family are set to return to the country on June 8.

Viloria and Sarmiento said Lim should be allowed to leave the country because he is not a threat to national security, not a flight risk, and no Hold Departure Order was issued against him.

Lim was willing to post an additional bail bond before the courts, his lawyers said.

Judge Alexander Acosta of the Regional Trial Court Branch 9, to whom the pleading was filed, has yet to rule on the request.