Marilyn Tagal yesterday testified in court that she was only about a meter-away behind Parilla when a man - whom she later identified as Corpin - shot Parilla in the head causing the latter to fall in front of her.
Tagal, Corpin and Parilla were aboard a ship from Naval town in Leyte, on its way to Cebu.
Tagal claimed she heard Parilla's wife Susan shouted "Dakpa ninyo! Dakpa ninyo!," asking the public's help to arrest a man she earlier saw drinking liquor with two other men before the ship left the Naval port in the evening of September 6.
Tagal said she had been observing Corpin and his two companions during the trip because she noticed them staring at her and the three even approached her but did not identify themselves.
Defense lawyer Sisinio Andales, however, tried to discredit Tagal's testimonies by asking her why she failed to report to the ship officials that there were passengers who were drinking liquor inside the vessel, when she knows that such is prohibited.
When Tagal said that she was in Cebu to buy commodities, Andales asked her to present proof such as receipts of the goods that she had purchased, along with her ticket from the ship. Tagal, however, was not able to present any of the things that Andales asked for.
Tagal admitted that she visited Parilla's wake upon the request of the former governor's relatives. She also said that Parilla's relatives shouldered her transportation expenses when she returned to Leyte days later.
Prosecution lawyer Adelino Sitoy said he would present more witnesses to prove that it was really Corpin who killed the 52-year old former governor. - Rene U. Borromeo/QSB