Movement

The Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office has denied the motion for reconsideration of the policeman earlier indicted in the robbery and killing of moneylender Pilar Hernandez and her secretary Wevina Pancho.

Assistant city prosecutor Fernando Gubalane dismissed SPO1 Mateo Yanson’s urgent motion for reconsideration because of technicality and lack of merit.

Gubalane, in a three-page resolution, said that Yanson’s grounds in moving for the reconsideration of his indictment were matters of evidence that should be brought up during the trial of the case.

Yanson earlier cited the complainants’ failure to present strong evidence against him that should necessitate the filing of the murder and robbery charges against him in court.

Yanson said that the complainants relied on the alleged statement of Pancho before she died.  He claimed no single witness testified during the preliminary investigation to point to him as the killer.

Yanson added that no medical doctor testified that it is still possible for Pancho to make a declaration in spite of the fatal injuries she sustained.

According to him, he was just a preconceived suspect of the homicide investigators because Pancho allegedly uttered the words “an” to the words “so” or “sol”, which rhymes with his family name.

He said that the words “ansol” or “anson” are not definitive of his identity.

But, Gubalane said that these are purely evidentiary matters that can be threshed in court during the trial.

Gubalane quoted the Supreme Court ruling in the case of Pedro Tandoc versus Ricardo Resultan, which states that preliminary investigation is merely inquisitorial, and it is often the only means of discovering the persons who may be reasonably charged with a crime.

He added that it is not a trial of the case on the merits and has no other purpose except that of determining whether a crime has been committed and whether there is probable cause to believe that the accused is guilty.

Yanson is one of the three policemen originally charged for the killing of Hernandez and Pancho.  However, the prosecutor’s office only found probable cause against Yanson.  — Fred P. Languido/BRP