Judge Thelma Ponferrada found Rodolfo Labanda guilty of homicide, while his companion, Roberto Abrigo, was acquitted for insufficiency of evidence. The court also ordered Labanda to indemnify the heirs of the victim, Police Officer 3 Marciano Salibay, in the amount of P50,000 for actual damages.
Court records showed that Salibay was killed after Labanda hit the victim in the head with a rock during a rumble along Quirino Highway, near Talipapa market in Quezon City on Feb. 10, 1996.
The court gave weight to the testimony of prosecution witness Eugene Vinluan, who was with the victim when the rumble took place, but managed to escape.
Vinluan testified that he, Malibay and another companion were traversing the highway on board a tricycle when they almost sideswiped a person who was crossing the highway.
The incident, Vinluan noted, alarmed bystanders who surrounded them and started hurling stones at them, prompting Salibay to introduce himself as a policeman. – Cecille Suerte Felipe