Vendor acquitted of cop’s murder

A Manila court dismissed yesterday the charges of murder and frustrated murder filed against a barbecue vendor in connection with the assassination of a policeman and injuries inflicted on another policeman and a civilian in 2004.

Manila City Regional Trial Court Branch 19 Judge Zenaida Daguna acquitted June Felizardo and ordered his immediate release from jail, where he spent the past two years after prosecutors failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that he killed Superintendent Manolo Martinez at 9:15 a.m. on Oct. 18, 2004. Martinez, commander of the Manila Police District’s Sta. Mesa police station, was gunned down after parking his vehicle beside the station.

Police Officer 1 Conrad Cecillano sustained a gunshot wounds on the left groin and right foot, while Jeanette Chan suffered injuries on her left thigh.

Daguna’s ruling raised concerns that Martinez’s real killers remain at large.

Felizardo spent two years and six months in prison before the promulgation. He requested to be transferred from the Manila City Jail to Camp Crame because there was allegedly a threat on his life.

Felizardo was implicated by Francis Abuyuan, whose real name is Jonathan Prestado. Abuyuan later retracted his statement and alleged that a Captain Albert Juan, assigned at the MPD-Special Operations Group (SOG) at the Manila City Hall, asked him to sign a statement.

The name Jonathan Prestado became infamous when on Dec. 6, 2005 he reportedly called the embassies of Singapore and United States and claimed that bombs were about to explode. He was detained at the Manila City Jail at the time.

The arresting officers "prejudiced the guilt of June Felizardo or at least the probability thereof, without conducting any verification as to the truth or falsity of Abuyuan’s declaration," Daguna said in her ruling.

She said Abuyuan signed the statement because he was threatened and "they wanted to get the reward offered by Mayor (Lito) Atienza."

Daguna also said policemen did not recover any weapons from Felizardo, who tested negative for paraffin.

Martinez’s killers were reportedly armed with .45 caliber pistols and an M-16 assault rifle. They were positioned on an elevated sidewalk along Ramon Magsaysay Boulevard, two meters away from the second floor of the police station.

In his earlier statement, Abuyuan said he knew the killers and that the original plan was to assassinate Martinez two days earlier. His neighbor Felizardo was reportedly recruiting him to act as a lookout.

Felizardo denied the allegations and said that from Oct. 16 to 7:30 a.m. of Oct. 18, he, his wife and daughter Nicole were at the house of his brother-in-law in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan to get a pair of shoes for Jhonelyn, his other daughter.