Dumpit guilty: For killing rob suspect in 2004

CEBU, Philippines- The Regional Trial Court has found controversial policeman SPO1 Adonis Dumpit guilty of homicide for killing robbery suspect Ronron Go in 2004.

Judge Ester Veloso of Branch 6 found the accused guilty beyond reasonable doubt and sentenced him to six years up to nine years and four months in prison.

“Considering that the prosecution was not able to prove the aggravating circumstances of treachery and abuse of superior strength, the accused should only be held criminally liable for the crime of homicide,” the judgment read, adding the right to kill an offender is not absolute, and may be used only as a last resort and under circumstances indicating that the offender cannot otherwise be taken without bloodshed.

Sporting long hair that grew past his shoulders, Dumpit, known among his peers as a sharpshooter, was dressed in a yellow t-shirt, gray pants and rubber shoes when he was taken to court.

Although he was seen sitting alone and burying his face in his hands before the promulgation, Dumpit displayed no emotion when the decision was read and was even seen grinning as he was led back to jail. In all, he spent less than an hour in Branch 6 in the Qimonda IT Center.

Veloso also ordered Dumpit to pay P50,000 to the family of Go, a resident of Villagonzalo 2, Barangay Tejero, Cebu City.

In 2006, the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for the Military and Other Law Enforcement Office filed a murder case against Dumpit before the court for killing Go, 17, on December 14, 2004 in Sitio Sampaguita, Villagonzalo 2.

According to the Ombudsman, Dumpit acted with treachery and took advantage of superior strength to kill the victim who was then unarmed. Dumpit was arraigned in 2010 and pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Witness testimonies

The prosecution presented five witnesses including the mother of the victim, Janeth Badana. She testified that on the said date at about 5 p.m. while she was at home, the accused together with two other policemen and a young woman arrived looking for his son. She told them he was not around.

A few moments later, Badana said she heard a gunshot and a certain Robert Castillo shouted that Ronron had been shot.  Badana claimed that she saw accused in the area shouting that whoever was aggrieved should just file a case.

Andres Satorre testified that he saw accused with a gun heading towards the direction of his neighbor Erlinda del Mar while the victim was coming from the opposite direction.

When Dumpit and Go came face-to-face, he said Go tried to turn back to run away, but Dumpit allegedly pointed a gun at Go and told him not to run. He claimed that the accused “shot the victim without a warning.”

Glenda del Mar said although she did not actually see Dumpit shoot the victim, she presumed it was him because he was right behind Go.

Dr. Gil Macato, former medico-legal officer of the National Bureau of Investigation-7, who conducted the autopsy said based on the gunshot wounds of the victim he was shot at a distance.

“There were two entry gunshot wounds and two exit gunshot wounds. The first wound was located at the back, in the lower chest wall and exited at the upper chest wall. The trajectory of the bullet was forward and up towards the center of the body. The second bullet entered through the left side of the back and pierced the lobe of the left lung and exited on the right chest wall, lower than the exit wound of the first gunshot. The trajectory was forward slightly downward towards the center,” Macato said, adding that both gunshot wounds were fatal.

To establish Dumpit was merely performing his duty as police officer, the defense presented nine witnesses including the accused.

Inspector Porferio Gabuya of Station 6 said he was with the accused and SPO1 Hortelano together with a robbery victim and her mother, Elizabeth Corro, who went to the house of Badana to verify the whereabouts of Go. Gabuya claimed that he, Dumpit and Hortelano were off-duty at that time and not in uniform.

Gabuya, who was about to leave the area said he returned after he received a call from the accused telling him that he had engaged in a shootout with Go and Junjun Bador and recovered a revolver from Go.

Gabuya said he asked people in the vicinity and he verified that there was a shootout just like what Dumpit told him.

Inspector Eddie Casas, assigned to the Special Weapons and Tactics Team, said he received report that there was a robbery alarm at Benedicto St. He and other policemen went to the area and met a PUJ passenger who said she had been robbed by three men who fled towards Villagonzalo 2. Together with the victim, they went to Villagonzalo 2 and conducted a hot pursuit operation that led to the arrest of Jay Torcio.

While at Villagonzalo 2, he said he heard a gunshot and ran towards the direction it came from. Casas added Dumpit requested him to rush Go to the hospital saying he might still be alive.

Special investigator Arnel Pura of the NBI said their office conducted an investigation relative to the killing of Go. The NBI later recommended the filing of a murder case against Dumpit before the Office of the Ombudsman.

Dumpit, who has been in police service for 20 years, said he first knew Go when he arrested him when Go was 15 years old. He said the mother of Badana sought his help after they could no longer control Go as they had no money to send him to a drug rehabilitation center.

The day he killed Go, Dumpit said he returned fire after someone in the group Go was with pulled out a gun and fired twice at him.  He added he could not determine if Ronron was hit because he was running.

Not murder

The court ruled there was not enough evidence to prove murder.

“The prosecution eyewitness Andres Satorre and the accused Adonis Dumpit both similarly testified that when the victim Go and the accused Dumpit came face to face with each other, the former attempted to flee, despite the warning of the accused for him not to run away. Satorre insisted that no warning shot was fired by the accused, but he, however, confirmed that prior to the shooting, the accused warned Go not to run. Hence, it cannot be said that the assault was sudden and unexpected,” the judgment read.

Veloso said when the first shot was fired, there was no treachery within the purview of its definition under the Revised Penal Code and such warning “not to run” could give the victim a chance to make a “conscious choice” of what to do next.

However, she said with the claim of the defense that there was a shootout and that the accused acted on self-defense were not corroborated by evidence. —/BRP) (FREEMAN)