Teener who killed doc gets 17 years

BACOLOD City, Philippines—One of the two suspects in the brutal slay of a physician here was meted 17 years of imprisonment for the crime.

The 16-year-old male suspect, whose name is being withheld for being a minor, was convicted for the murder of Dr. Andres Gumban, 63, whose brutal killing inside his house in Brgy. Alijis last May was even videotaped by the suspects themselves.

In an eight-page decision read in a closed-door session Tuesday, Regional Trial Court Branch 41 Judge Ray Alan Drilon sentenced the accused of imprisonment from 10 years to 17 years, and to pay the heirs of the victim P75,000 in civil indemnity.

Drilon said that given the voluntary plea of guilt entered by the minor during his arraignment last July 2 in the presence of his lawyer, Christine Umahag of the Public Attorney’s Office, and finding enough evidence of guilt against the accused, the court finds him guilty beyond reasonable doubt.

However, since he is a minor, the sentence was immediately suspended in accordance with the provisions of Republic Act 9344 or the Juvenile Justice Welfare Act, the order said.

The court had set the disposition conference on the minor’s verdict, who hails from Cadiz City, on January 13 next year, to specifically tackle the rehabilitation and reformation process for the 16-year-old at the Regional Youth Rehabilitation Center in Guimaras province.

If the minor complies with the conditions in the disposition set by the court and the DSWD, then it is probable the accused may regain freedom instead of serving his sentence when he reaches 18 years old.

Meanwhile, the judge scheduled the pre-trial hearing against the other suspect, 18-year-old Fof Pascual, from Sagay City, on March 18, 2013.

Autopsy report shows that Gumban, a pulmonologist, sustained 35 stab wounds in the different parts of his body. The killing was videotaped, which lasted for five minutes and 18 seconds, by the suspects using a mobile phone.

The video recording made by Pascual and the minor, whom the doctor met through Facebook, was recovered by the police and presented during the trial. —(FREEMAN)