The lawyers of Marie Roxanne (Plinky) Recto filed yesterday a Manifestation with the Regional Trial Court of Mandaluyong, informing the court of the Temporary Protection Order issued by Bago RTC Judge Henry Trocino, Rowena Guanzon of the Gender Watch Coalition said.

Trocino's order was used by Recto's live-in partner in taking her 15-month-old illegitimate son with him from her home at the Wack-Wack Heights Condominium in Mandaluyong City, she said.

At the RTC in Mandaluyong City, Recto has a pending petition for Temporary and Permanent Protection Order against her former live-in partner, lawyer Magdaleno Peña, who is from Brgy. Ubay, Pulupandan, Guanzon said.

"While the Motion for Renewal of the TPO filed by Ms. Recto's lawyers was pending in the RTC of Mandaluyong - and the existence of this pending case was known to Judge Henry Trocino - he used the Temporary Protection Order under Republic Act No. 9262 so he could issue an order giving temporary custody of the 15-month-old boy to Magdaleno Peña, ex parte, without giving Ms. Recto the opportunity to file an answer, a pre-trial, and without a case study by a social worker," Guanzon said.

"Since the petition is for custody, the Rule on Custody should have been followed by the judge, and not the Rule on Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children," she said.

"We question the obvious bias of the judge in favor of Mr. Peña, as well his erroneous application of Republic Act No. 9262. A judge cannot lawfully issue a TPO in favor of a man, because only women and their children are protected by the Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act of 2004," she said.

"Even if the Petitioner, Magdaleno Peña, alleges child abuse and claims that he represents his illegitimate son, the TPO is still not the proper remedy. What makes the error more glaring is that there was a TPO issued by the RTC of Mandaluyong in favor of Ms. Recto, except that a Motion for Renewal of the TPO was pending when Peña filed the Petition for Custody in Bago City. Put simply, a man who is a respondent in a Petition for Temporary and Permanent Protection Order in one court cannot lawfully be given a TPO in his favor by another court. No two TPOs can be issued to the same parties," Guanzon said.

"The manner by which the Sheriff of Bago, together with policemen from the CIDG in Pasig, took the child traumatized not only the boy but also his 10-year-old step-brother, who witnessed the event, locked himself in a room, and called his mother's assistant saying, 'They took him'," Guanzon added.

"The participation of the CIDG policemen in serving the Order together with the Sheriff of Bago were specified by Judge Trocino in his 'TPO,' which raises more questions on the impartiality of the judge, because his order should have been served by the Sheriff of the RTC of Mandaluyong City," Guanzon said.

The judge even ordered that Recto put up a bond of P1 million, she added.

"This is also a clear case of forum-shopping because the issue of custody is also being litigated in RTC Mandaluyong, and the parties are the same," she said.*

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