MANILA, Philippines — Lawyer Ferdinand Topacio has filed a complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman against Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Jaime Santiago for the arrest and detention of Katherine Cassandra Li Ong and Shiela Leal Guo.
The complaint, which also names several unidentified NBI agents as respondents, stemmed from the high-profile arrests of Ong and Guo in August 2024. The lawyer said that the two were arrested without a warrant shortly after being deported from Indonesia and turned over to the Philippine Bureau of Immigration.
Topacio argued that the arrests were illegal as the sole basis for their detention was the contempt and arrest orders issued separately by the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The complainant alleged that Ong was detained for four days at the NBI headquarters in Quezon City before being transferred to the custody of the House of Representatives. Similarly, Guo was later transferred to the Senate.
The affidavit detailed that when Topacio questioned Santiago about the legal grounds for the detention, he was informed that the action was carried out “because he was ordered to do so by respondent Remulla.”
The complaint charged respondents with Arbitrary Detention under Article 124 of the Revised Penal Code for detaining a person without legal grounds, and with Violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for causing undue injury through manifest partiality, evident bad faith, or gross inexcusable negligence.
Topacio asserted that as seasoned members of the Bar, Remulla and Santiago should have known that effecting arrests based solely on congressional contempt orders was unlawful.
