Death for killers of judge’s son

A Quezon City court handed down the death penalty on former nightclub employees yesterday for the abduction and killing of the son of the Quezon City Judge Marciano Bacalla two years ago.

Jerro Garcia, 25, a resident of San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan, and former doorman of CBR Pub House in Lagro, Quezon City, and Rodrigo Catungal, 25, of Tala, Caloocan City, former waiter of the same club, received the sentence in a decision penned by Judge Monina Zenarosa of Branch 76.

Gracia surrendered to police on June 6, 2001 while Catungal was arrested on June 3.

The court found Garcia and Catungal guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the charges of kidnapping with ransom and homicide for the abduction and killing of Mark Harris Bacalla, 23, student, of 303 Litex Road, Barangay Commonwealth, Quezon City on May 3, 2001 in Lagro, Quezon City.

The court also ordered Garcia and Catungal to pay the victim’s family P92,000 for actual damages, P50,000 for moral damages, P50,000 for civil damages, and P442,000 for the ransom given to the accused in exchange for Bacalla’s freedom.

Two others escaped the death chamber. Rizaldy Cariño, 37, taxi driver, of Sampaloc, Manila, was sentenced by the court to 12 years imprisonment while Sammy Pader, 31, of Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija was acquitted for lack of evidence.

Pader’s 47-year-old uncle, Felino, a farmer in Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija, had turned state witness and identified accused Onofre Surat Jr., 40, a US citizen and owner of the pub house as the alleged mastermind in the slaying of Bacalla.

Surat, who was arrested by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation on June 3, 2001 in Pasig City, remains at large after he escaped by breaking the window of the X-ray room of the East Avenue Medical Center on June 29, 2001 while undergoing examination at the hospital.

Surat, Garcia, Catungal, Cariño and Pader were all charged for the abduction and killing of Bacalla.

On the eve of his abduction, Bacalla sought permission from his mother, Ofelia, to attend the birthday party of a schoolmate in Fairview.

But instead of going there, the victim proceeded to the pub house to attend Surat’s party.

The victim left the pub house in the early morning of May 3 and as he was boarding his orange Honda Civic (ECF-858), three of the accused — Surat, Garcia, Catungal — offered to drive him home.

Bacalla declined the offer, but the accused insisted on driving him home.

In his testimony, Felino said Surat, Garcia and Catungal arrived in Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija on May 3 at around 7 a.m. Surat had admitted to him that they killed someone and that the body was inside the car.

Felino said he was asked by Surat to bury the victim‘s body. When he refused, Surat allegedly threatened to kill him.

He agreed to bury Bacalla’s body in Barangay Rizal, Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija because he feared for his life and the safety of his nephew, Sammy, who cooked food for the accused while they were at the province.

Felino said he immediately reported the incident to the police after the accused returned to Manila.

After the abduction, Bacalla’s mother received a text message that read: "salbahe ang anak mo, binangga kami." She also received another text message asking P4 million in in exchange for her son’s freedom. Negotiations were made to bring the price down, with the family unaware that the captive was strangled and already dead.

Police arrested Cariño on May 17, 2001 in Quezon City after receiving an envelope containing P490,000 in ransom. Bacalla’s body was found in Barangay Rizal in Nueva Ecija on May 21, 2001.