‘DON’T JUDGE MY SON’

“Don’t judge him.”

This was the appeal of former

Talisay City Mayor Socrates Fernandez to the public after his son Joavan was meted a prison term of up to 36 years for abducting and mauling two vulcanizing shop workers in 2008.

The 73-year-old father expressed dismay over the outcome of the case, saying the penalty was “too much.”

Fernandez, now a councilor of Talisay City, said that labeling his adopted son Joavan, 32, a “bad boy” or the city’s “public enemy no. 1” was uncalled for and unfair.

He reminded the public that Joavan, like every sinner, is capable of changing his life too.

“Let us not condemn him. Nakonbikto na gani siya unya ato pa gyud nga kadenahan sa uban pa nga mga akusasyon. Gusto siyang yatakan ug biay-biayon sa mga tawo kay lagi salbahis man kuno. Wala ta masayod nga nausab na diay siya,” he told Cebu Daily News yesterday.

(Let us not condemn Joavan. He has already been convicted, and people want to  worsen his misery by accusing him of more wrongdoings. They revile him, thinking that he’s a bad person. But who knows he has already changed his ways.)

On Tuesday, Cebu City Regional Trial Court Branch 6 Presiding Judge Ester Veloso found Joavan and five others guilty of detaining cousins Winston and Osbert  Abellana inside his residence in Barangay Bulacao, Talisay City on Aug. 11, 2008.

“Sa tinuod lang, nasubo gyud ko. Kon duna may illegal detention, one hour ra man unta. Pero sige lang, ni-respetar ko sa decision sa korte,” he said.

(To be honest, I’m really sad (about the verdict). If indeed there was illegal detention, it was just for an hour. But it’s okay. I respect the court’s decision).
Fernandez said he will meet with their lawyer, George Bragat, today to discuss what legal remedy to take.

“I’m not here to defend Joavan. While I respect the decision of the court, we always have the option to file an appeal as part of the parameters of democracy,”  he said.

“I’ll have to listen to what our lawyer tells me in the same manner that I want him to listen to me,” he added.

Fernandez said he advised Joavan not to lose hope.

Joavan has been imprisoned at the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center for nearly three years now in relation to another case for illegal possession of explosives, a non-bailable offense.

“I want him to pray and behave because that is his only defense. He should always ask God for help,” said Fernandez, an active member of the Catholic Faith Defenders.

Fernandez and his late wife Jovita were childless and took home Joavan, an infant  abandoned outside the door of a church in 1983.

Joavan has had numerous brushes with the law since his teenaged years.  So far, at least four cases filed against him ended in acquittal or dismissal.

His lone conviction was in relation to a case of reckless imprudence resulting in damage to properties when he rammed his green Pajero into a police mobile car at the intersection of R. Rabaya Street and the South Coastal Road in Barangay San Roque, Talisay City in 2010.  In that case, he was ordered to pay P13,700 to the Talisay City government, which owns the police car.

Last Tuesday, Joavan and his five friends were convicted for two cases of slight illegal detention .

Joavan, 32, and three other accused — Benedeck Gabasa, Mark Perez, and Teodoro Ligaray —   were meted successive jail terms of nine to 16 years in one case, and 12-20 years in the other case.

The two others found guilty, Leoniver Singson and Roland Perez, will not serve the jail term since they were below 18 years old when the crime happened.

The court still has to determine the appropriate “disposition measures” for the two accused as provided in the Supreme Court Rule on Juveniles in Conflict with the Law.

The six accused were also ordered to pay P100,000 in moral damages to each of the two victims, and P50,000 in exemplary damages to one of the victims.

Prosecutor Llena Ipong-Avila said one of the complainants, Osbert, and his father, Oscar, were granted protection by the Department of Justice (DOJ) in 2008. But they left the DOJ’s Witness Protection Program in 2010 after they completed their testimonies and the perceived “threats” to their lives had died down.

“They wanted to go home so we decided to terminate their stay with us,” said Avila, head of the DOJ’s Witness Protection Program in Central Visayas.
Supt. Germano Mallari, Talisay City Police Station chief, welcomed the ruling of the court, saying it could help maintain peace and order in the city.

“Joavan was linked to various crimes in previous years. And if he was acquitted, there’s a possibility that he will strike again. Now, he has to serve the penalty rendered by the court,” he told CDN.

Mallari hoped that Joavan’s stay behind bars will help him reform his ways.

“His stay in jail can help him become a better person. There are programs being implemented to help prisoners change their lives and become good individuals,” he said.