In an 85-page decision, Regional Trial Court Branch 81 Presiding Judge Maria Teresa Yadao found former lawmaker Jose Villarosa guilty beyond reasonable doubt for the murder of Paul and Michael Quintos, sons of former congressman Ricardo Quintos, on Dec. 13, 1997.
Also meted the death penalty were Barigueco Calara, Manolito Matricio, Mario Tobias, Ruben Balaguer, Eduardo Hermoso and Gelito Bautista for carrying out the gangland-style execution of the Quintos brothers.
The former lawmaker’s wife vowed to take the conviction ruling before the Court of Appeals.
Rep. Amelita Villarosa, incumbent representative of the lone district of Mindoro Occidental, lamented the decision.
"It was very wrong for the court to have arrived at that decision. That is a wanton disregard of the evidence we have presented. The journal of the House showed that my husband was debating with former Rep. Wigberto Tanada during the time," she argued.
The death sentence will automatically be reviewed by the Supreme Court as standard procedure on death penalty cases. Due to the volume of cases, however, the SC delegates some tasks of review to the CA.
At the courtroom yesterday, Amelita held her husband’s hand as the death verdict was handed down on Villarosa, who stood motionless in his polo barong.
"It’s unfair," was all Villarosa could say to reporters as he was handcuffed and led to a prison van of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) for his confinement at the National Bilibid Prisons in Muntinlupa City.
The elder Quintos, who was present in the court, welcomed the decision saying the truth had finally come out.
"Pero nakalulungkot na marami pa ang namatay (But it is still saddening that there are those who died)," Quintos said.
A commotion erupted inside the jam-packed courtroom after relatives of the other accused turned hysterical and bewailed the injustice done to their loved ones.
The court sheriff and jail guards had to bodily carry the weeping women outside of the court room.
Militant farmers were also up in arms over the court’s decision.
The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) yesterday assailed the conviction, saying communist rebels were behind the death of the sons of Quintos, a political archrival of Villarosa.
"The New People’s Army (NPA) meted revolutionary justice against them, not these innocent farmers," KMP secretary-general Danilo Ramos said.
"With this decision, Quintos would now indeed be happy that (Villarosa) is out of the way and the peasant leaders stopping his land-grabbing spree in the province, as he thinks, would be silenced," said Ramos of Quintos, who also owns land in the province.
"But we will not stop, we will exhaust all legal, para-legal and meta-legal means to secure their (farmers’) freedom," he asserted.
Hermoso, in an extra-judicial confession, implicated Villarosa with the other accused, saying they had conspired to carry out the killing of the brothers including their father, the political archival of Villarosa who had beaten Quintos in the previous polls.
According to Hermosa, Villarosa had presided over meetings attended by the six accused to plan the murder.
Although Hermoso recanted his statement, the court retained it as part of its circumstantial evidence to prove the guilt of the accused.
The court also dismissed the defense of Villarosa that he was not in the province when the crime was committed because he was attending congressional hearings in Metro Manila.
The court said the journal of the House of Representatives did not record the time that Villarosa had arrived at Congress and with modern modes of transport such as helicopters, it said the accused could be in Manila in an hour.
The crime of murder, according to the decision, was conspiracy among the accused to plot and carry out the killing.
"The chain of events lead the court to conclude that the attack on the victims came without a warning, was sudden and unexpected and the unsuspecting victims were not in the position to parry the assaults. The means of execution gave the victims no opportunity to defend themselves or to retaliate and showed that such method was delivered or consciously adopted," the court decision said.
The QC court also ordered the convicted suspects to pay P200,000 as indemnity and moral damages and P279,845 for actual damages to the victims’ family.
Villarosa’s cash bond was also ordered canceled and his confinement was ordered along with the six other convicted killers collectively known as the "Mamburao 6."
Cesar Tolosa, spokesman for "Tanggol Magsasaka," the human rights desk of KMP, said Yadao’s basis for her decision was "very poor."
Tolosa pointed out that the testimony of Hermoso came after the farmer was allegedly tortured by goons employed by Quintos. He also claimed that Hermoso gave his testimony without the presence of a lawyer.
"She (Yadao) also gave much bearing to testimonies of six witnesses, who are paid hacks of Quintos. These so-called pieces of evidence can hardly stand but they were given prominence by the judge. Quintos’ money is really doing their work," Tolosa said. — With Delon Porcalla, Katherine Adraneda