Three cops indicted

CEBU, Philippines - Finding probable cause, the Lapu-Lapu City Prosecutor’s Office has recommended the filing of cases against the former officials of the Regional Highway Patrol Unit (RHPU)-7 tagged in the killing of lawyer Noel Archival and two others six months ago in Barangay Corro, Dalaguete town, Cebu.

In his resolution, Deputy City Prosecutor Jesus Rodrigo Tagaan said he found enough evidence to indict Senior Superintendent Romualdo Iglesia, Senior Inspector Joselito Lerion and Police Officer 1 Alex Bacani for complex crime of multiple murder and frustrated murder.

“This office therefore finds probable cause to charge Iglesia, Lerion and Bacani and several John Does (unidentified persons) of the complex crime of multiple murder and frustrated murder for the death of Archival, Alejandro Jayme, Candido Miñoza, and the wounding of Paolo Cortes,” Tagaan ruled.

Tagaan served as acting provincial prosecutor after the Cebu Provincial Prosecutor’s Office inhibited from handling the complaints.

Iglesia, Lerion and Bacani, along with Chief Inspector Eduardo Mara and Senior Police Officer 4 Edwin Galan were charged by the National Bureau of Investigation-7 for multiple murder and frustrated murder.

NBI agents Renan Oliva and Erme Monsanto said the crime was committed in conspiracy among the respondents.

On February 18, 2014, Archival, his driver Jayme, and bodyguard Miñoza were killed after they were ambushed on board a black Ford SUV while traversing Barangay Corro, Dalaguete, Cebu. Only Cortes, on call-assistant of Archival, survived the attack.

Cortes said they were traversing Dalaguete town going to Cebu City at around 1 p.m., when a red Toyota Vios with license plate numbers GSR 995 suddenly overtook them. He said that the Toyota Vios kept on blocking their way while a Mitsubishi Strada pick-up closely tailed them. Then unidentified men in both vehicles started shooting at them.

Closed-circuit television camera footage obtained by the NBI in Dalaguete town corroborated the testimony of Cortes.

The footage likewise showed that the minutes before the ambush two vehicles “kept on flanking and sandwiching Ford SUV before it was mowed down by gunfire.” After that, the said vehicles sped towards Cebu City.

Motive

The NBI said prior to his death, Archival reported before the Mabolo Police Station that RHPU policemen tried to extort P200,000 from his client Jane Catherine Go. Reportedly, the RHPU filed a complaint for carnapping, anti-fencing law and illegal transfer of vehicle license plate numbers against Go and Chris Reinz.

The complainant also said he was getting death threats from the RHPU policemen in relation to the string of cases he filed against them before the Office of the Ombudsman and the courts.

Iglesia and other respondents denied the allegations. Iglesia even concluded that the reason why the NBI is “singling out” the members of RHPU-7 as the suspects in the ambush and the “sudden twist in the description of the vehicles” as narrated by Cortes was because of the disbarment case filed by RHPU-NCR against Monsanto before the Supreme Court and before the Office of the Ombudsman.

In his decision, Tagaan set aside the contention of Iglesia and other respondents. He said it was the NBI that filed the complaint and not Monsanto alone. He said there was even no evidence that Monsanto framed them.

Investigation

Based on the investigation of the NBI and the PNP, Lerion had been driving and using a Toyota Vios having the same “distinctive features of the Vios car used in the ambush” but sporting different license plate numbers GSC 675 while Iglesia used a gray Mitsubishi Strada bearing license plate numbers NVO 543. The NBI only recovered the Toyota Vios.

On February 24, 2014 at about 9:35 a.m., according to the NBI the gray Mitsubishi Strada with “improvised” license plate numbers NVO 543 entered OFF Road Motorshop in Barangay Maguikay, Mandaue City, for repairs.

However, on March 20, 2014, the said vehicle was allegedly hastily taken out from the shop by Bacani.

Tagaan ruled that it was a “very intriguing revelation” that the silver gray Mitsubishi Strada with license plate numbers NVO 543 which was being suspected to be involved in the ambush would be taken out of the repair shop, the same day the search warrant was served at the RHPU-7 impounding area.

Tagaan added the positive identification of the witnesses of Bacani as having pulled out the vehicle from the shop deserves more weight and credence than denial and alibi.

Meanwhile, Tagaan also dropped Mara, being an impounding area chief; and Galan, being in-charge in the impounded vehicle, from the charges for insufficiency of evidence that they had conspired in the alleged killing of the victims.

Mara and Galan were included in the complaints because, according to the NBI, the two failed to stop their colleagues from using the impounded vehicle.

Likewise, Tagaan ruled that the other matters raised by the respondents on their counter-affidavits including their questions on the validity of the implementation of the search warrant, the regularity of the conduct of laboratory and forensic examination, the preservation of seized evidence, and the chain of custody, the authenticity of the document evidences submitted by the NBI and the truthfulness and the accuracy of witnesses’ testimonies are defenses to be tackled before the trial court.

Democrito Barcenas, one of the lawyers of the Archival family, said their camp will be filing a partial motion for reconsideration on the resolution of Tagaan clearing Mara and Galan from the charges. He added they have 15 days from receipt to file partial motion.

Inocencio dela Cerna, the lawyer of the respondents, said he cannot issue a comment yet as he has to read the resolution first.  —/BRP (FREEMAN)