EDITORIAL - Reasonable certainty of conviction

Government prosecutors are supposed to be building up cases based on higher standards of evidence. Instead of filing a case in court based on evidence supporting probable cause, they have been tasked to build strong cases with a “reasonable certainty of conviction.”

Perhaps the Department of Justice circular, issued in February 2023, had not yet been fully internalized when prosecutors filed a murder case against expelled Negros Oriental congressman Arnolfo Teves Jr. for the killing of a provincial board member in 2019.

Last Jan. 5, the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 15 granted the defense motion for demurrer to evidence and dropped the charges against Teves and two of his co-defendants, Richard Cuadra and Rolando Pinili. RTC Judge Eduardo Ramon Reyes cited insufficiency of evidence to back the testimony of an alleged gunman that Teves had paid P50,000 to have board member Miguel Dungog killed.

Teves is being held without bail for several other cases, including 10 counts of murder, 13 counts of frustrated murder, four counts of attempted murder, three other murder cases, terrorist financing and illegal possession of firearms and explosives.

Among the cases is the massacre of 10 people led by then Negros Oriental governor Roel Degamo during an aid distribution activity at his home in Pamplona on March 4, 2023. Teves is accused of being one of the masterminds in the murder of his family’s political rival.

Prosecutors should ensure that the other cases faced by Teves will be tighter than the one that was put together in the case of Dungog.

Jesus Crispin Remulla had issued that circular on reasonable certainty of conviction when he was the secretary of justice, and he repeated the instruction when he became the ombudsman.

As the chief graftbuster amid the public works corruption scandal, Remulla has cited the difficulty of securing a conviction beyond reasonable doubt in cases of plunder. He has noted that it is easier to pin down the suspected crooks for other offenses such as malversation through falsification of public documents – an offense that is also non-bailable and can warrant life in prison. Even malversation through falsification, however, must be backed by evidence that will establish guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

The acquittal of Teves on one murder case due to insufficiency of evidence should remind prosecutors about the importance of building cases with reasonable certainty of conviction.