Court acquits cop in homicide case

CEBU, Philippines - The Regional Trial Court Branch 18 has acquitted a police officer assigned in Talamban Police Station for a criminal case of homicide after the prosecution failed to prove his guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

In his five-page judgment, Judge Gilbert Moises ruled that the prosecution failed to present evidence to counter the defenses of the accused, PO2 Rodel Abejuela, who said that his shooting of Jose Ligario alias Boyet was done in self-defense.

“The prosecution did not present countervailing evidence. In fact, the cross examination of the public prosecutor confirmed the unlawful aggression and reasonable necessity of repelling the attack. In view of the foregoing consideration and finding all the elements of self-defense duly established, Abejuela is hereby acquitted,” the judgment reads.

The incident happened on December 23, 2011 at about 9:00 p.m. wherein the accused admitted shooting the victim but invoked self-defense.

One of the witnesses, Ambrosio Bia, a resident of Capaculan, Tisa, Cebu City said that on the said date he was in the house of his mother-in-law at Villa Leyson Subdivision, Barangay Bacayan, Cebu City.

He said he called the police and reported the presence of a drunken person in their place. Around 15 minutes later, he said, he heard the sound of gun fire and concluded that the policemen arrived. He also learned later that the victim was gunned down.

Thelma Omboy, a resident of Villa Leyson, said she was the target of the victim. She narrated that when she was heading towards the house of her sister, she chanced on the victim. Suddenly, she said, the victim took a weapon from his bag and began chasing her. She said she did not know why the victim wanted to kill her.

Omboy said she shouted for help and kept on running until three policemen arrived. She said she saw Abejuela disembarked from the vehicle but the victim attacked the latter.

“PO2 Abejuela fired a warning shot but Jose Ligario stabbed him with his gaff three times, leaving the policeman no choice but to shoot Jose Ligario,” she added.

She added she was thankful that policemen arrived because they saved her life.

In his testimony, Abejuela said he and two other policemen responded to “a drunken person alarm.”

He said he saw a “hysterical woman” shouting for help while a man was chasing her. He said he disembarked from the vehicle and placed himself between the woman and the man.

Thereafter, he said, he fired a warning shot but the man kept on attacking him though he already introduced himself as a policeman.

Moises, in his decision, said the elements of self-defense as invoked by the accused were present.

He said the actuation of the accused was in line of the performance of his official duty in order to protect himself and the woman being attacked.

“He had to shoot the victim first on the hand, then the stomach and finally on the chest because the victim kept coming towards him. It was a natural reaction for a police officer faced with such situation. He had to save himself from the impending danger,” the judgment reads.(FREEMAN)