MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Justice (DOJ) has recommended the filing of murder and frustraded murder charges against Police Officer 2 Edgar Angel, the policeman who retracted his confession that he was the gunman in the slaying of international car driver Enzo Pastor.
State media reported Thursday that in a resolution dated September 12, Assistant State Prosecutor Susan Villanueva recommended murder complaints against PO2 Edgar Angel.
Following his arrest, Angel confessed he was paid P100,000 by businessman Domingo "Sandy" de Guzman to slay Pastor. He also claimed that Pastor's wife, Dalia Guerrero Pastor, has an illicit affair with De Guzman.
Angel gave the statement as an extrajudicial confession before PO2 Alvin Quisumbing of the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit.
Angel afterwards recanted and said that he was forced to recite a script by the Quezon City police in admitting to the crime.
Villanueva, however, said that Angel's retraction does not invalidate his confession, which was done in the presence of a lawyer from the Quezon City chapter of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines.
She noted in the resolution that all elements of the crime of murder are present in the case.
The frustrated murder complaint against Angel, meanwhile, was dismissed due to insufficient evidence that he attempted to kill Paolo Salazar, Pastor's companion on the night of the shooting.
Villanueva said the complaint "cannot be considered absent such proof, [that is to say] medical records showing the extent of injuries allegedly suffered" by Salazar.
While Pastor was shot in the head, Salazar sustained injuries after a gunman on motorcycle fired at the junction of Visayas and Commonwealth avenues in Quezon City on June 12.
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