RTC clears three men of murder

CEBU, Philippines - The Regional Trial Court has cleared three men charged for the murder of a general manager of a farmer’s cooperative in 2006.

In his 13-page decision, Judge Ruben Altubar of Regional Trial Court Branch 29 in Toledo City said the prosecution failed to prove the identity of the accused and that they were the same person that killed Antonio Bitoon Adolfo, who was then newly installed as general manager of the United Farmer’s Multi-Purpose Cooperative (UFMPC).

“Wherefore, in the light of all the foregoing, and finding that the prosecution failed to establish the guilt of accused Alejo Pador, Rogelio Alolor and Marcelo Taño beyond reasonable doubt, the said accused are hereby acquitted of the crime of murder as charged,” he ruled.

The three, along with Antonio Labarehos who remains at large, were accused of  killing Adolfo last December 8, 2006 at Sitio Z, Barangay Cansomoroy, Balamban, Cebu, where the victim was allegedly stabbed by the suspects four times.

Evermo Duran, a resident of Gaas, Balamban and one of the prosecution’s witnesses, testified that he knows all four accused since they were residents of Brgy Tabunan, which is a neighboring barangay of Gaas.

Duran stated in his testimony that he spotted the accused in their area as if waiting for someone to pass. Minutes later, he said he saw all the men proceeding hurriedly to a parked motorcycle.

He narrated that he then went to Barangay Cambuhawe, Balamban, where his son was living. Duran said he passed by Sitio Z where the three men he saw earlier was conversing with a man whom he later identified as the victim after he heard that a man was robbed and killed in the said Sitio. 

Duran’s testimony was corroborated by David Bacus, who was reportedly with his cousins heading to the public market when they saw a group of people surrounding a man and stabbed him.

Pador, Alolor and Taño denied the charges. They said they were in their respective residents doing something at that time.

Judge Altubar, in his decision, stated that the court does not find the testimony of  Bacus credible, same with Duran, whose testimony is “circumstantial.”

“The rule that the testimony or a single witness is sufficient to sustain a judgment of conviction applies only when the witness is an eyewitness and that his testimony is credible and straightforward. It does not apply to a witness whose testimony only constitutes circumstantial evidence,”the decision stated.  (FREEMAN)