Damalerio murder case: Defense refutes residency of prosecution's witness

The defense yesterday presented two witnesses refuting the earlier claim of the prosecution's witness that he was a resident of Purok 6 in barangay Pao, San Pablo, Zamboanga del Sur. Prosecution witness Edgar Ongue earlier testified he saw suspect Guillermo Wapille gun down Pagadian City journalist Edgar Damalerio, and that he knew the suspect as his neighbor in Pao. But the defense witnesses told the court that neither Ongue nor Wapille was a resident of the stated place. The first witness was Generoso Obejero who said he was president of Purok 6 and Ongue was not among the residents there.

He said there were 11 households in the purok and there were no surnames of Ongue and Wapille there. He even brought a list of household members of his purok to prove his words. But when cross-examined by prosecution lawyer Fernando Gubalane cross-examined him, Obejero admitted it was his wife who prepared the list, not him. The list, not its content, was admitted however as evidence. The second defense witness was Alfredo Duga-duga, the 76-year-old barangay captain of Pao, who testified also that both Ongue and Wapille were not residents of his barangay.

But when defense lawyer Honorato Hermosisima Jr. showed Duga-Duga a barangay certification stating Ongue as "a bonafide resident" of Pao, the barangay captain said it was issued by mistake. "I ask forgiveness. This is a mistake. I signed it but I didn't know Ongue's name was written in that document which was prepared by my secretary," Duga-duga told the court in vernacular.

When cross-examined, Duga-Duga said he only found the mistake upon arriving in Cebu last July 19. He denied also it was a certain Felipe Paller who told him about the "lapse" because Paller only asked him if he ever knew about Ongue and Wapille.

Duga-duga also said Wapille, now detained at the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center, was not a resident of his barangay.

Ongue had testified previously that it was Wapille who killed Damalerio. He said he was with Damalerio while driving his car in Pagadian City on May 13, 2002 when Wapille gunned the journalist down. Damalerio was then the editor of the Zamboanga Scribe in Pagadian City and a broadcaster of radio station dxKP.