CA affirms man’s conviction for homicide

CEBU, Philippines - The Court of Appeals has affirmed the conviction of a man who killed an alleged commercial sex worker after they argued over the payment for her services almost eight years ago.

Associate Justice Pamela Ann Abella Maxino said she found no strong ground to reverse the ruling of the trial court convicting Delfin Diegor guilty of homicide.

“We find no circumstance of substance which has been overlooked that can negate the finding that accused-appellant is guilty. The alleged inconsistencies highlighted by accused-appellant are more apparent than real. As can be gleaned from the candid, straightforward and adamant testimony of Dante Cuico, he actually saw accused-appellant shoot the victim while inside her room,” the decision shows.

Maxino said Cuico was able to identify Diegor as the perpetrator since the latter was familiar to him as he was a regular customer.

Diegor is sentenced to suffer the penalty of ten to 17 years of imprisonment and ordered to pay the heirs of the victim P50,000 as moral damages, P50,000 as civil indemnity, and P25,000 as tempe-rate damages.

In 2010, the trial court convicted Diegor after finding sufficient evidence. However, Diegor appealed his conviction citing the prosecution’s failure to prove his guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

He said there were patent inconsistencies in the testimonies of Cuico which casts serious doubts as to the truthfulness on whether he actually witnessed the shooting incident.

Maxino ruled in favor of the prosecution. She said Cuico was straightforward that he saw Diegor shoot the victim on December 24, 2006 inside the room at around 2 a.m.

Cuico said before the victim was killed, she was inside the room together with Diegor as her customer. He added prior to the killing he heard a commotion.

Diegor claimed that it was self-defense and that he accidentally pulled the trigger of the firearm after he got hold of it.

He said the victim got mad after he told her that he was short of the promised payment for her sexual services. After reportedly shooting the victim, Diegor took off but was arrested by the barangay tanods. (FREEMAN)