Man gets 12 years for killing cousin

MANILA, Philippines - A Quezon City judge has sentenced a man to serve up to 12 years in prison for killing his cousin during an altercation in Barangay Bahay Toro four years ago.

In a four-page decision released yesterday, Judge Genie Gapas-Agbada of the Regional Trial Court Branch 221 found accused Robert dela Cruz guilty beyond reasonable doubt of homicide for stabbing his cousin Elbert delas Alas on Aug. 21, 2009.

Aside from receiving a prison term of six to 12 years, Dela Cruz was also ordered to pay Delas Alas’ heirs P50,000 as civil indemnity, P50,000 as moral damages and P25,000 as temperate damages.

During the trial, the victim’s mother, Lolita, testified that her son and nephew earlier had an argument that led to a fist fight. She said Dela Cruz continued to utter unsavory words against her son even after they were pacified.

The mother claimed that Dela Cruz stabbed her son in the back while she was trying to prevent him from confronting Dela Cruz.

Delas Alas was rushed to the nearby hospital but died the following day.

For his defense, Dela Cruz claimed that while Delas Alas was choking and punching him, he suddenly felt something splatter on his back and when he looked at it, it was blood. The accused added that he later learned that the blood came from the victim.

Dela Cruz’s partner testified that while Dela Cruz and the victim were fighting, it was the latter’s father, Eliseo delas Alas, who stabbed his own son with a knife.

Agbada junked the alibi of Dela Cruz and his partner and gave more weight to the testimony of the victim’s mother.

“This court finds it suspect that the victim’s father would stab his own son who was in the middle of a fight with the accused. There is no motive for the father to kill his own son,” she said.

Agbada described the testimony of Dela Cruz’s partner as “an absolutely astounding and incredible happenstance (that) might find a place in a fourth-rate movie script.”