Armed cop disrupts hearing on mayor’s murder case

DINGALAN, Aurora — The resumption of the trial of detained Mayor Jaime Ylarde in connection with the celebrated 2005 killing of a weekly newspaper publisher Philip Agustin was disrupted Monday over the presence of a policeman who entered the courtroom packing a gun.

The trial was set to start at the sala of Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 6 Judge Jansen Rodriguez when those in the courtroom discovered that PO3 Eduardo Borca, who was in plain clothes and slippers, had gained entry inside the courthouse with a gun tucked in his waist.

Operatives of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) immediately drove out Borca from the courtroom. The court also ordered the sheriff, Ed Centeno to investigate the incident on motion of State Prosecutor Aristotle Reyes.

The incident took place just as Cesar Mendoza, brother-in-law of Agustin took the witness stand and corroborated the earlier testimony of his wife Nenita that he saw Nilo Morite and Manuel Alday, the two suspects in the killing of Agustin conducting surveillance operations around the victim’s house on May 3 and 4, 2005.

Before the hearing started, the Sheriff inquired if anybody in the courtroom was carrying a gun. When no one replied, the lawmen inside started conducting a body search. It was at this juncture when Borca admitted he had a gun.

"Why did you have a gun? Didn’t we have a firearms ban?," a female prosecutor asked Borca shortly before he was whisked out of the courthouse.

A court employee told The STAR that when Borca entered the courtroom, he immediately asked where Ylarde was. When he learned who the mayor was, he positioned himself two seats away from the mayor.

The STAR learned that Borca is a policeman assigned in Quezon City and was on a legitimate operation in Antipolo, Rizal to hunt for a certain Elizabeth.

Lawyer Rizalina Endozo, clerk-of-court, told The STAR that carrying of firearms is prohibited inside the courtroom although court employees could not cite existing jurisprudence.

But another court employee said that the act of carrying firearms inside the court is expressly prohibited and strictly observed, particularly now, when there is a ban. "As far as I know, even policemen are not allowed to bring their guns inside the courtroom. Only jail guards and sheriffs serving as escorts of detained prisoners," the court employee said.

During the scheduled hearing last month, a commotion also marred it when the mayor’s younger brother Cesar confronted a cameraman who tried to take his photos while the mayor was being whisked out of the packed courthouse.

Ylarde and three others are facing charges in connection with the May 10, 2005 murder of Agustin, publisher of Starline Times Recorder.