The Regional Trial Court Branch (RTC) 48 in Tagbilaran City, for the second time, deferred the arraignment of Abu Sayyaf-linked dismissed police superintendent Maria Cristina Nobleza and Renierlo Dongon for illegal possession of firearms and explosives.
Judge Jorge Cabalit on Friday postponed the scheduled arraignment after Nobleza and Dongon filed an omnibus motion to defer the arraignment for the said case lodged against both accused who are also facing obstruction of justice charges.
According to Atty. Sarah Soriano-Hermioda, among those filed were a motion to allow Nobleza to undergo eye checkup while Dongon appealed for approval to have his dental braces removed as he has been having difficulty in eating.
Nobleza and her husband Dongon arrived in Tagbilaran City at 8 a.m. today.
The heavily guarded couple immediately proceeded to the sala of Cabalit in RTC 48.
They were flown back through a commercial flight this afternoon to Metro Manila and taken to the custodial facility of Camp Crame.
In August, RTC 48 deferred the arraignment of Nobleza and Dongon for the same case.
The postponement was ordered to hear first the motion to dismiss and motion to quash information filed by Nobleza’s camp on August 18.
Nobleza and Dongon were charged of violation of Republic Act 10591 or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act based on the confiscation by authorities of bomb-making materials inside the apartment they rented in Panglao last April.
Police and military personnel intercepted Nobleza and Dongon, together with Dongon’s mother and a minor, at a checkpoint in barangay Bacani, Clarin on the night of April 22 while a firefight was ongoing between government security forces and Abu Sayyaf bandits in the same village. (AD)