4 years for Belgian’s attacker

Guilty as charged.

Three days after victimizing a Belgian delegate to the 112th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) general assembly, a tricycle driver was found guilty beyond reasonable doubt of robbery and slight physical injuries by a Pasay City court yesterday afternoon.

The promulgation came a few hours after Victorio Mallari pleaded "not guilty" during his arraignment in the morning.

In a four-page decision, Pasay RTC Branch 118 Judge Pedro Corales sentenced Mallari to four years and 20 days up to a maximum of eight years imprisonment for robbing Georges Brion, assistant secretary general of Belgium’s parliament. The robbery was perpetrated in tandem with a certain "Jess" on a side street near the Pasay City Hall at dawn last Tuesday.

The court ordered Mallari to return the P4,000 cash taken from the Belgian national.

Brion immediately left the court room after the decision was read at 3 p.m. He declined to issue any statement, but there was obvious satisfaction on his face when the verdict was read.

The judge’s decision was based on the testimony of the IPU delegate who positively identified Mallari as one of two men who forcibly took his wallet and belongings at knifepoint.

City Prosecutor Clarisa Kong said the speedy promulgation was expected given the consistent testimonies by witnesses. She stressed that in cases where the victim positively identifies the accused, a guilty verdict is most likely the outcome.

During the arraignment at 8:30 a.m., Mallari surprised the gallery when he entered a "not guilty" plea despite his earlier admission that he participated in the robbery.

Mallari admitted that he was one of the two men who robbed Brion at knifepoint, but clarified that his cohort had possession of the Belgian’s cash.

Defended by public attorney Roque Rosales, Mallari told the court that it was his cohort who was armed with a bladed weapon. He claimed that he was not responsible in any way in causing the lacerations suffered by the foreigner in forehead and right palm.

Taking the witness stand and speaking in his native French, Brion narrated through an interpreter the events that took place last Tuesday night.

The Belgian said he stepped out of his hotel to go to the nearest church where he could attend early morning Mass. At the Cultural Center of the Philippines complex, he asked a tricycle driver to take him to the nearest church.

Mallari, however, brought the Belgian to a dark side street, where an accomplice was waiting.

Brion said the suspects forcibly took his wallet containing P4,000 and $60 in cash and pertinent documents at knifepoint. The foreigner said he tried to grab the knife.

Also taking the witness stand was Police Officer 2 Elmer Dimaculangan, one of the arresting officers from the station’s Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force.

Dimaculangan narrated to the court how they traced Mallari and arrested him inside his house on Decena street last Wednesday.

Pasay police had conducted saturation drive at tricycle stations near the area of the incident, rounding up 15 men fitting the description of the suspect. However, none of them was identified by Brion as his attacker.

Mallari was arrested through an informant, who had overheard him bragging that he had victimized a foreigner.

Charges of robbery-holdup with physical injuries were immediately filed against Mallari.