Pardoned cop-killer convicted of kidnapping

MANILA, Philippines - A man granted a presidential pardon in 2006 for killing a policeman was convicted anew, this time for kidnapping the sibling of a computer store owner in 2009.

Nick Perucho, for kidnapping Julian Rodriguez, was sentenced to life imprisonment with no possibility of parole by Judge Ismael Duldulao of the Las Piñas Regional Trial Court Branch 197 last June 11.

Court records show that on April 15, 2009, Rodriguez, then 21, was at his siblings’ computer store in Las Piñas when armed men barged into the shop and tried to force him and his sister into their vehicle.

Rodriguez begged the kidnappers to just take him and leave his sister. The kidnappers later demanded P20 million as ransom.

With the help of the Movement for Restoration of Peace and Order (MRPO), the Rodriguez family coordinated with the Police Anti-Crime Emergency Response (PACER).

Five days after the kidnapping and before negotiations were consummated, PACER operatives rescued Rodriguez from a safehouse in Pangasinan and killed five of his kidnappers in a shootout.

A few weeks later, Perucho was arrested at a checkpoint set up in Antipolo following a robbery attempt.

More cases

The MRPO said Perucho was convicted of murder for the Oct. 22, 1992 killing of a traffic policeman in Quezon City. In June 2006, then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo pardoned Perucho.

Perucho was apprehended in December 1991 by the police Task Force Habagat for the kidnapping of Grace Chua Chico and her grandfather in Bacoor, Cavite, but the case was dismissed due to the investigators’ mishandling of the case, the MRPO said.

Perucho is allegedly a member of the Galicia-Perucho kidnap gang, made of former policemen and soldiers equipped with high-powered firearms.

Perucho is also being tried for kidnapping Francis Uyehara in Bulacan on Jan. 8, 2009. Uyehara and Rodriguez were kept at the same safehouse in Pangasinan, the MRPO said.

Justice, finally

The conviction was welcomed by the Rodriguez family and MRPO members who attended the promulgation.

“The MRPO is grateful that after several years, the Rodriguez family finally gets justice. We hope that this will serve as good example,” MRPO president Ka Kuen Chua said.

The MRPO lauded Rodriguez’s family for pursuing the case despite receiving threats, allegedly from Perucho and other gang members, and cited the able representation of government prosecutor Olive Torrevillas.

MRPO officials, however, questioned how Perucho could have been pardoned. They said that if the Office of the President had been more careful, Perucho would not have gotten out and kidnapped Rodriguez and Uyehara.

Ka said Perucho allegedly threatened MRPO members who took his photo as his sentence was read.