Saying cops tortured them to admit: Rob-slay suspects recant statements
After owning to the crime of killing a graduating nursing student after divesting her of her mobile phone, two men accused of the crime are now singing a new tune — they were allegedly tortured to admit to the crime.
The recantation of their extra-judicial confession by the two members of the notorious Crips gang was however no surprise to the police, who said that this is a normal action taken by people accused of a crime for their defense.
The two suspects — Aivan Romawac Barabat and Mark Anthony Labitad Gabriel, admitted a day after the March 6 robbery-slay of Ruby Jade Ruba that they committed the crime.
Ruba, who was supposed to graduate from Bachelor of Science in Nursing this semester was killed after two men on board a motorcycle took her cellular phone along
The two prime suspects recanted their extra-judicial confessions while they were about to be arraigned before the Regional Trial Court for robbery with homicide.
Barabat and Gabriel, who earlier signed their extra-judicial confessions before lawyer Aquilino Felicitas, owning up to the March 6 robbery and shooting to death of 20-year-old Ruba, told the media that the police tortured them.
Barabat, 20, of Unit 4 Oppra, Barangay Kalunasan and Gabriel, 18, of Ponce Capitol Greenhills, Capitol Site claimed that the police brought them to the South Reclamation Project where they were tortured and forced to admit.
They however said that they could not name the alleged torturers, but would recognize their faces.
The Cebu City Police has denied the claims of the suspects.
Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Bureau chief George Ylanan, who also headed Task Force Ruba, said that Barabat and Gabriel voluntarily admitted to the crime when presented before the media following their arrest.
Ylanan said, a doctor examined the suspects and found no signs of manhandling.
In fact, Ylanan pointed out, the two men even showed their tattoos to the media during their presentation, which could have been the right opportunity to show that they were indeed tortured.
Ylanan added that there is also positive identification of the accused by witnesses.
The police officer remains confident that this recent development would not weaken their case.
“Wala man ta magsalig sa ilang extra-judicial confessions kay naa man tay eye witnesses nga nakakita sa incident. With or without their confessions mas bug-at ang accounts sa witnesses,” Ylanan said.
He said he is more inclined to believe on the statements of the three witnesses, because they did not know Ruba personally and are just plain concerned citizens, who happened to witness the killing.
Cebu City Police director Patrocinio Comendador told reporters yesterday that retraction of earlier statements by suspects is not new to them as defense.
But the move of the two men surprised their lawyer, who was assigned by the Public Attorney’s Office to represent them in court.
Lawyer Al Rey Ouano said that he was even admonished by Regional Trial Court judge Ramon Daomilas, Jr., because of the incident.
Daomilas was forced to reschedule the arraignment of the two accused after they made manifestations of hiring the services of a private lawyer for their defense.
Ouano said he was really surprised by the decision of the two accused because he was not informed before hand that they are hiring a private counsel.
Although, Ouano said he already had an idea that the two are recanting, because they told him that they would enter a plea of not guilty.
To give time to the accused to find a private counsel, Daomilas has moved the arraignment to April 11.
Barabat and Gabriel allegedly shot Ruba dead while the nursing senior was outside the boarding house of a classmate to borrow and adaptor for a laptop.
During their presentation to the media, Barabat and Gabriel admitted to also being members of the elite group “Bloods Killers” composed of members of their gang mainly composed of their pioneers in Cebu.— (/NLQ)
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