Dominguez brods plead not guilty; judge orders marathon trial

MANILA, Philippines - Brothers Roger and Raymond Dominguez yesterday pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges filed against them in connection with the abduction and killing of car dealer Venson Evangelista.

Judge Ma. Luisa Padilla of the Regional Trial Court Branch 215 said yesterday that the court can accommodate hearing the car theft with homicide case every Monday and Tuesday afternoon after Holy Week.

“Let’s have a marathon trial on this case,” she said.

Evangelista’s father, Arsenio, said he felt glad upon hearing the judge’s pronouncement.

After the hearing, Arsenio said he “couldn’t help but cry” in the courtroom as the charges against the accused were read out loud “because what happened to my son was read in the details.”

Padilla also issued warrants for the arrest of suspects Rolando Talban and “Joel,” who are still at large, after the court admitted the prosecution’s motion to have them included in the charge sheet.

Talban was allegedly the gunman in Evangelista’s killing while Joel was the one who purportedly acted as a mechanic when the group posed as buyers and asked to test drive a Toyota Land Cruiser that Evangelista was selling when he was abducted on Jan. 13. 

Jayson Miranda, who was with Roger when he was arrested and allegedly also part of the group behind the killing, did not enter a plea so the judge entered a “not guilty” plea for him.

The same was true with Alfred Mendiola, a suspect the prosecutors want to turn into a state witness.

During yesterday’s hearing, Padilla also granted a motion to have Ferdinand Parulan removed from the charge sheet. Parulan and Mendiola pointed to Roger and Raymond Dominguez as the alleged masterminds in the killing. Mendiola acted as a buyer when they approached Evangelista.

As for Parulan, he was bailed out of jail on Jan. 14, allegedly by the Dominguezes. The abduction and killing of Evangelista supposedly happened on Jan. 13, but he claimed to have heard from the Dominguez brothers about the killing after he was released from jail.