Ronda VM’s wife pleads not guilty

CEBU, Philippines - “Not guilty.”

 This was the plea of Pearl Ungab, the wife of Ronda Vice Mayor Jonah John Ungab during her arraignment for the slight physical injuries case against her on Wednesday, almost a year from the time of the incident.

 Assisted by lawyer Richard Alvarez, Pearl denied the accusation filed against her before the Municipal Trial Court in Cities (MTCC) Branch 8.

 After the arraignment, the case was referred to the Philippine Mediation Center to give the parties a chance to settle amicably, Alvarez said.

 Pearl was charged before the court for allegedly hitting lawyer Jiecel Tiu with a baseball bat on February 26, 2015 in Barangay Cogon Ramos, Cebu City.

Tiu was allegedly having an affair with Vice Mayor Ungab, also a lawyer, but the former vehemently denied the allegation.

 A complaint for frustrated murder was filed before the Prosecutor’s Office against Pearl, but it was downgraded to slight physical injury, which was eventually filed before the court.

 Tiu asked for a reinvestigation, questioning the resolution of then Assistant City Prosecutor Liceria Rabillas to downgrade the original charge. The resolution was granted by Judge Grace Veloso-Fernandez.

In his reinvestigation report, Prosecutor III Rogelio Del Prado, Jr. agreed with the findings of Rabillas.

 He alleged the circumstances of the case established there was no intent to kill but merely to do harm to Tiu.

 “…intent to hit her head or kill the complainant is not quite established but the intent to harm the complainant is obvious which resulted in finding probable cause for slight physical injury and to which the undersigned re-investigator agrees to,” the report read.  (FREEMAN)