OSG asks SC to reverse CA ruling on murder case in Camarines Sur

Solicitor General Ricardo Galvez has appealed to the Supreme Court a ruling of the Court of Appeals setting aside the conviction by a trial court in Camarines Sur of two persons for the slay of a scion of a prominent family.

Galvez said the filing of the case would not constitute double jeopardy against Claudio Francisco and Rudy Pacao, accused in the slay of Marcial Azada on Dec. 2, 1989 in Tigaon, Camarines Sur.

He cited the SC decision upholding the filing of a similar petition against then San Ildefonso (Bulacan) Mayor Honorato Galvez, who had been acquitted by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court for the death of the Vinculado brothers.

In the petition by Galvez and Assistant Solicitors General Amparo Cabotaje-Tang and Jemelo Villones, the OSG claimed that the Court of Appeals acted with "grave abuse of discretion" in ignoring the clear evidence in the case.

They cited the testimonies of National Bureau of Investigation agents Zaldy Laudencia and Luigie de Lemos, and the findings of the trial court during an ocular inspection of the crime scene pointing to the culpability of Francisco and Pacao for the slay of Azada inside a restaurant.

Francisco is the son of the former mayor of Tigaon, while Pacao is a policeman.

Anna Azada Rivera, sister of the victim, expressed her appreciation to the OSG for appealing the case. She said that the Azada family had been deeply grieved by the death of the only boy in the family. She remains hopeful that their family would eventually find justice more than 11 years after the tragedy.