Justices hesitant to act on Villa case?

The nine-year-old case of the fatal hazing of Ateneo law student Lenny Villa has suffered seven years of delay at the Court of Appeals after six justices reportedly inhibited themselves from taking part in deciding the fate of two convicted members of the Aquila Legis fraternity.

A check at the appeals court showed that the case has been up for decision as early as February 1997. The appeal was elevated by the convicted Aquilans in 1994. The ponente (writer of the decision) is Justice Demetrio Demetria.

Demetria, however, is the seventh magistrate assigned and observers say, the only justice who had the guts not to abstain and toss the case to colleagues. But he has had the problem of not being able to form a panel of three, which is needed before a decision can be promulgated, since the case reached his chamber in 1996.

The latest jurist who inhibited himself was Justice Fermin Martin who could have joined Justices Demetria and Ramon Mabutas in promulgating the case recently. The case has now been re-raffled and the two justices will be waiting until another one joins them.

Among the other CA members who inhibited themselves were retired Justice Jose Sabio, a fellow Aquilan, former CA and now Supreme Court Justice Fidel Purisima, whose nephew Amante Purisima II was involved, and Justices Quirino Abad Santos, Oswaldo Agcaoili and Eubulo Versola.

Except for Sabio and Purisima, it could not be ascertained, however, what were the reasons of the other jurists for withdrawing. A verification showed that all of them graduated from UP, with Demetria, the only exception, who came from the UE College of Law.

The 2 Aquilans were convicted of homicide and sentenced to 14 years in prison in 1993 by Caloocan Judge Adoracion Angeles. They were sentenced for killing Villa, then a 22-year-old first year law student, who underwent hazing at the house of an Aquilan at Almeda Compound in Caloocan City in Feb. 1991.

"These fraternities should have been given a lesson. It's been nine long years. The case has been decided (by the RTC) but they haven't served their sentence yet. It's the law of whom you know. Its not really justice," Gerarda Villa, 57, mother of Lenny, whose lawyer-husband Romulo died last year, lamented to The STAR.

Mrs. Villa claimed she is now supporting the Crusade Against Violence (CAV) in its campaign against hazing in the country's campuses and stressed the government should show its concern and give these fraternities a lesson.

"It's about time these people be punished. The anti-hazing law has already been passed. The government should do something about this so that this will have a chilling effect on the gangs and for the parents to be aware also," she added.

Carina Agarao, president of CAV, said they have been consistently following up the case but still nothing has happened. She appealed to the justices to resolve the case at the soonest time possible for the Villa family to obtain justice.

Two of the 26 convicted Aquilans, Nelson Victorino and Jose Sabio Jr., recently came under fire after Presidential Legislative Liaison Officer (PLLO) Jimmy Policarpio, himself an Aquilan, hired them for his staff.

Most of the convicted Aquilans have finished law and have passed the bar exams. They haven't taken their oaths yet, however, as there is a provision in the 1987 Constitution prohibiting lawyers from taking their oaths if they have been convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude.