17 cops cleared in Parañaque shootout; raps vs 8 others on

MANILA, Philippines - Seventeen members of the police Special Action Force (SAF) charged with murder for the death of two civilians, including a seven-year-old girl, during a shootout in 2008 were acquitted by the Parañaque City court for lack of evidence.

“In sum, there is no evidence to show who among the accused shot the victims. Being so, there is no need for further discussion on other issues like whether there was conspiracy, intent to kill, mistake of facts or whether the killing was murder or not,” Judge Jaime Guray of the Parañaque City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 260 said in a 13-page ruling on May 8.

Among the acquitted were Superintendents Jonathan Calixto and Abraham Abayarri, Chief Inspector Hermogenes Cabe, and Inspectors Erickson Roranes and Ludivico Cordova.

Also acquitted were then Police Officers 3 Hogar Torres, Jericho Otado, Guilbert Lopez, Policarpio Jose Jr. and Police Officers 1 James Yodong, Allan Apil, Efren Angcuan, Lloyd Bulayungan, Nemesio Yano, and Sherwin Maybanting.

The court’s decision also granted the SAF members’ demurrer to evidence, which was filed in belief that “prosecution failed to establish the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt... because not one of the prosecution witness was able to identify the killer/s of the victims.”

The murder case stemmed from the death of Alfonso de Vera and daughter Lia Allan who were caught in crossfire while the accused policemen were chasing a group of robbers on Dec. 5, 2008.

The De Veras were onboard an Isuzu Crosswind SUV when the responding policemen mistook their vehicle as the getaway car.

Twenty-five policemen were originally charged but the court earlier dismissed the case against eight members of the police Highway Patrol Group (HPG).

The case against the eight HPG operatives was brought before the Court of Appeals (CA).

The CA allowed the filing of criminal charges against the eight policemen involved in the shootout.

The appellate court reversed a 2010 ruling of the Parañaque RTC that cleared Chief Inspectors Lawrence Cajipe and Joel Mendoza, Inspector Gerardo Balacutan, PO3 Jolito Mamanao Jr., PO3 Fernando Rey Gapuz, PO2 Eduardo Blanco, PO2 Edwin Santos, and PO1 Josil Rey Lucena.

The CA also ordered their immediate arrest and the lower court to proceed with the trial.

The CA said Guray committed an error in immediately dismissing the cases against Cajipe and his team that served as blocking force during the police operation.

“Respondent judge gravely abused his discretion in dismissing the criminal case filed against the private respondents for lack of probable cause of the ground that the evidence tends to show that they acted only as members of a blocking force during the shooting incident which led to the death of Jun and Lia (de Vera),” read the ruling penned by Associate Justice Noel Tijam.

“This court, thus, is of the considered view that there is ample evidence and sufficient basis on record supporting a finding of probable cause. Needless to say, a full-blown trial is to be preferred to ferret out the truth,” it said.

The CA said the Parañaque RTC should have first conducted a full-blown trial before deciding on whether the cases against the eight policemen should be dismissed.

“This is, at best, a conjecture without empirical basis. A rush to judgment without deliberate evaluation of the evidence from both sides demanded by a full trial,” it added.

In December 2009, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed two counts of murder against the eight and 17 other policemen before the Parañaque RTC after finding probable cause against them in a preliminary investigation.

But in June 2010, Guray dismissed the case against Cajipe and his team since there was no supposed proof of their participation in the shooting and killing of the two victims.

The RTC, however, proceeded with the cases against the 17 other police officers.

Prosecutors then elevated the case before the CA.

Complainant Lilian de Vera blamed the police for the death of her husband and their daughter.

De Vera also narrated that her husband and daughter were in their Isuzu Crosswind on their way to Pasay City to pick her up when the police intercepted them inside the United Parañaque Subdivision 4 in Sucat.

She said the policemen were cordoning off the area in an attempt to block a group of robbers who engaged policemen in a running gun battle along Sampaguita Avenue, United Parañaque Subdivision 4, near the West Service Road.

De Vera said the policemen might have mistaken their SUV for one of the getaway cars of the suspects because the police sprayed it with bullets despite the lack of provocation or threat coming from the occupants of the vehicle.

The complainant cited witnesses’ accounts, which said that her husband, in his last effort to save their lives, grabbed their bloodied daughter and shielded her with his body as he tried to run away from the police and get cover from a jeepney parked nearby.

A total of 16 people, including the two victims and a police officer, were killed during the incident. 

Three witnesses were presented against the SAF but Guray said one of them made an “incredible” testimony while the two failed to positively identify who shot the victims.

According to Guray, witness Roland Castillo said men in black uniform and “R-SAF” bonnet strafed the De Veras’ Crosswind. But nothing in Castillo’s testimony pointed to the triggerman.

Castillo also told the court that he saw the bloodied driver of the SUV fall from his seat and hurl invectives at the cops while shouting he was a civilian.

Guray said witness Hilario Indiana also failed to identify the triggermen even while he saw them approach the SUV.

The third witness, Mary Jane Santos Gonzales - who identified four policemen - was called incredible by the court.

“Said witness’ identification of four of the accused in the courtroom posed a serious doubt on her credibility because she even pointed to a person who is not charged in the information,” the ruling read.

The court was referring to Senior Superintendent Moro Virgilio Lazo, who escorted the accused policemen to court in the Nov. 17, 2010 hearing.

The defense said Lazo was the provincial police director of Cagayan province when the shootout occurred.

Gonzales also pointed to Cabe, Torres, and Cordova. But the defense said Cabe was wounded and was rushed to the hospital. No explanation was given for Torres and Cordova in the ruling.