Pa of slain brothers seeks reversal of Villarosa acquittal

MANILA, Philippines – A father has asked the Supreme Court to affirm the conviction of former Oriental Mindoro lawmaker Jose Villarosa and three others for the 1997 murder of his two sons.

On Feb. 3, 2006, Judge Ma. Theresa Yadao of Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 81 convicted Villarosa and seven others for the murder of Michael and Paul Quintos in Barangay Cinco, Mamburao, Occidental Mindoro on Dec. 13, 1997.

Last March 8, the Court of Appeals (CA) reversed the conviction of Villarosa, Ruben Balaguer, Gelito Bautista and Mario Tobias, but affirmed those of their three co-accused.

In a 66-page consolidated petition, Ricardo Quintos said the CA did not apply the doctrine of interlocking confessions relative to the extra-judicial confessions made by co-accused Eduardo Hermoso as evidence.

“The Court of Appeals committed grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack and excess of jurisdiction when it ruled that the extra-judicial confession of Eduardo Hermoso is not corroborated by independent evidence to sustain the guilt of the respondents despite the fact that evidence on record amply corroborated the extra-judicial confession of Hermoso and the fact that Hermoso even executed a judicial statement during the preliminary examination conducted by the MTC (Metropolitan Trial Court) which is a judicial admission in itself,” he said.

“The Court of Appeals committed grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack and excess of jurisdiction when it ignored and overlooked the other evidence on record showing the conspiracy of the private respondents with all the other accused to kill Michael and Paul Quintos and showing that Jose Villarosa is the mastermind of the conspiracy.”

However, the CA said the circumstantial evidence against Villarosa were “insufficient” to establish a connection between the former lawmaker and the murder of the Quintoses.

The CA decision was written by Associate Justice Noel Tijam.

After his conviction was reversed, Villarosa went to the Department of Justice and charged Yadao with rendering an “unjust judgment.”

Villarosa accused Yadao of manifesting partiality towards the complainants and deliberately disregarding his testimony and the evidence he had presented during trial.

“How can Judge Yadao conclude that I may have been in the said meeting absent any evidence?” read the complaint.

“Clearly here aforecited conclusion is the product of mere conjectures, surmises and presumptions which is contrary to law and established jurisprudence. A decision must only be based on facts and law.”

Yadao “blindly relied” on the extra-judicial confession of Hermoso despite the fact that the prosecution had failed to present any evidence to prove his participation in an alleged plot to kill the Quintoses, he added.