The first Writ of Amparo issued by a trial court was heard yesterday by Quezon City Regional Trial Court Judge Lita Tolentino-Genilo of Branch 91 even as the policemen she directed to produce before the court the body of the man claimed to have been forcibly taken and unlawfully detained by them failed to attend.

Except for SPO1 Rolando V. Pascua who admitted in the return he filed through his lawyer Reynaldo Destura that he is an active member of the Philippine National Police (PNP) presently detailed at the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group with address at Camp Crame, EDSA, QC, all the other respondents were totally unheard from.

Pascua’s lawyer explained that his client could not appear for health reasons, prompting Genilo to give him 24 hours within which to submit a health certificate and warning that she would cite him in contempt if he fails to do so.

Genilo was also the judge who issued the writ being heard.

Pascua moved for the lifting of the writ of Amparo issued against him saying he himself was forcibly taken and detained by unidentified armed referred to by the petitioner and was only released when he introduced himself as a police officer.

Pascua said he happened to be at Magalang St. near the Land Transportation Office (LTO) along East Ave., QC last July 9, 2007 where the husband of the petitioner was forcibly taken by unidentified armed men as he was attending to the application for an international driver’s license of a relative.

“The incident transpired in no less than a minute, the malefactor seem to be trained and have prepared for the incident,” Pascua alleged in his return.

During the hearing, the petitioner, whom the judge did not identify on the grounds that her parents-in-law are in poor health, asked the court for a temporary protection order while the one who claimed to have witnessed the incident asked that he be placed under the government’s witness protection program.

Genilo said she will issue her orders on the twin motions today.