Voting 8-6 pro hac vice (for this occasion only), the tribunal suspended the scheduled Feb. 28 execution of the two convicted kidnappers and remanded their case to the Marikina City Regional Trial Court Branch 272 for the hearing of new evidence.
In rendering the ruling, the SC gave weight to the affidavits of Lara’s and Licayan’s co-accused, Pedro Mabansag and Rogelio de los Reyes, that the two had no part in the 1998 kidnapping of businessman Joseph Tomas Co and his assistant, Linda Manaysay.
"It appears that, if introduced and admitted, the affidavits might lead to a change in the outcome of the case, sparing the movants from the severest and most permanent of penalties," read the tribunal’s decision.
In granting a new trial, the SC suspended a provision of the Rules of Court, which only allows a reopening of a case before the judgment has become final.
"Nonetheless, the Court, on previous occasions, has alluded to its power to suspend its own rules or to except a particular case from its operations whenever the purposes of justice require it," the decision said.
"Indeed, the basic grant of a new trial is that there has been a miscarriage of justice, and the grant of a new trial will be in the interest of justice," it said.
The SC said a new trial is justified when new and material evidence has been discovered, which the accused could not with reasonable diligence have found and produced during the original trial, and if introduced and admitted would probably change the judgment.
"Technically, the affidavits of Delos Reyes and Mabansag are not newly discovered in that the affiants are the movants’ co-accused who were already identified as such during the trial," read the decision.
"Nonetheless, we note the evidence contained in the affidavits could not have emerged during the pendency of the case, owing to the flight of the affiants," it said.
The SC said it was immediately informed of the discovery of the new evidence, and that the Office of the Solicitor General had not objected to the reopening of the case against Lara and Licayan.
"That the People’s Tribune himself seeks the reopening of the case must be given due regard and cannot be dismissed lightly," read the decision.
"The State is no less interested than the individual accused of a crime in his acquittal if he is innocent," it said.
Lara and Licayan were to have been put to death by lethal injection last Jan. 30, but the tribunal issued a 30-day stay to study a petition of the Public Attorney’s Office for the reopening of their case.
Meanwhile, Monsignor Roberto Olaguer, chaplain of the National Penitentiary in Muntinlupa City, said Lara and Licayan want Judge Reuben dela Cruz to inhibit himself and for another judge to hear the new trial.
"They are also concerned on who would handle their case," he said. "They are requesting for another judge to retry the case."
It would be "awkward" for a judge to retry a case in which he had convicted the accused as it might appear that he had made the wrong decision, he added.
Olaguer said he is ready to take the witness stand in a new trial to help prove the innocence of Lara and Licayan.
Rueda-Acosta had earlier asked him to execute an affidavit, he added.
Olaguer said Lara and Licayan want to be confined at the National Penitentiary during the new trial, and not the Marikina City jail for fear of their lives.
They are afraid that they might be killed in the Marikina City jail, he added without elaborating.
Upon the request of Chief Public Defender Persida Rueda-Acosta, the Philippine National Police (PNP) will investigate further the case against Lara and Licayan.
"The problem with this case, there are information that (Lara and Licayan) did not give during investigation," said PNP chief Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr.
"Now that they are facing lethal injection, they were forced to say the truth. Since the Supreme Court has relegated that (to) the lower court, there is a need to conduct further investigation."
Ebdane said the case of Lara and Licayan should be a signal for the PNP to ensure that information related to crimes, especially kidnapping, are given "full attention" during the first stage of the investigation.
"That is a new development, and we may have to conduct follow-up investigation based on their additional allegations," he said.
"I think they might also be given a chance to defend themselves."
Lara said torture forced him to admit to the crime and to sign a sworn confession on Aug. 12, 1999.
Mabansag was arrested last Jan. 9 in Negros Occidental, while Delos Reyes was captured in Surigao City on Jan. 12. — With reports from Christina Mendez, Edu Punay, AFP