Filmmaker Jade Castro, friends freed after arson complaint trashed

MANILA, Philippines – Filmmaker Jade Castro and his peers, who were arrested without warrant on February 1 in Quezon Province over arson charges, were released from the Catanauan Bureau of Jail Management and Penology facility on Monday, March 11.

Castro and his friends – sales manager Ernesto Orcine, civil engineer Noel Mariano, and civil engineer Dominic Ramos – were freed, according to Jasper Castro, Jade’s brother, in a screenshot shared on X by human rights lawyer and legal counsel Chel Diokno.

An ABS-CBN report said that Judge Julius Francis Galvez of Catanauan Regional Trial Court Branch 96 trashed the destructive arson complaints filed against the group.

“The information was quashed on the ground of lack of jurisdiction of the court on the persons of the accused due to the invalidity of their arrest. Technically, case is dismissed but without prejudice as to refiling,” Michael Marpuri, one of Castro’s lawyers, told ABS-CBN.

Arson charges

Castro, who helmed critically acclaimed films like Endo and Zombadings, and his friends had been accused of burning down a modern jeepney on January 31. The alleged crime was committed in Catanauan town in Quezon, less than an hour away from Mulanay town, where Castro’s group was staying for vacation.

Closed circuit television (CCTV) footage showed Castro and his friend’s car passing through a Mulanay road at around 7 pm that day, about the same time when the crime was being committed in Catanauan. Another CCTV footage showed that at around 7:25 pm of the same night, the film director was seen filming the rehearsal of a local pageant in Mulanay town plaza. Two Mulanay town officials also noted that they were with Castro and his friends when the alleged crime happened in the other town.

No basis

“Sa aking pagsusuri, walang sapat na dahilan na hulihin sina Jade (Based on my observation, there’s not enough basis to arrest Jade and his companions),” said Diokno, also one of Castro’s counsels. “They were not caught in the act of committing a crime; there was no legitimate hot pursuit operation; and they did not escape from custody.”

Castro’s case has brought renewed criticisms on how police handle warrantless arrests and hot pursuits. Human rights lawyer Sol Taule, who often responds to cases of activists arrested without a warrant, said on X that “the arrest of Direk Jade Castro and companions is a result of sloppy police work for the sake of apprehending someone.” – with reports from Jairo Bolledo/Rappler.com