Jeep dispatcher gets 8 years for robbery

A jeepney dispatcher was found guilty of robbery and was sentenced to suffer an imprisonment of up to eight years.

Joseph Lera was convicted by judge Generosa Labra of the Regional Trial Court Branch 23 for robbing a woman of P500 last May 4, 2004 in barangay Santo Niño despite his denial and alibi.

Lera said that it was impossible for him to rob the victim, Elvira Amarante, at 4:45 in the afternoon along Legaspi Street near the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral because he was allegedly at Colon Street at that time busy looking for passengers as he was a dispatcher.

However the court said it is not enough to show that the accused was somewhere else when the crime was committed. Labra said the accused failed to show that it was physically impossible for him to be at the crime scene.

Labra said that it is also not physically impossible for Lera to be at the crime scene because Colon is just a few meters away from Legaspi Street. The court also pointed out that the victim and the arresting officer positively identified the accused.

The victim said that she was walking along Legaspi Street on her way home from the cathedral when the accused, armed with a knife, forcibly took her bag containing a wallet with P500 cash, ATM cards and several identification cards.

Amarante said that she even begged to the accused that she be given coins for her fare but was just told to keep quiet as he held the knife against her abdomen. The accused then ran towards the Colon area but a concerned citizen, bringing a piece of wood, chased the accused until he was arrested. - Fred P. Languido