Prosecutor testified for 4 cops in father-son drug war slay case — NUPL

MANILA, Philippines —  The National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) said the prosecutor involved in the case of the killings of Luis and Gabriel Bonifacio testified in favor of the four accused police officers.

In a statement, NUPL said that Caloocan Deputy City Prosecutor Darwin Cañete "did not actively participate" in prosecuting the case and even testified for the defendants.

“He even testified for the accused. Caloocan Deputy City Prosecutor Darwin G. Cañete said he had been summoned to the site in 2016 and then issued a report stating that ‘the family of the deceased are unwilling to cooperate on filing a complaint…By some cruel twist of fate, when this case got to court in 2021 he was the assigned trial prosecutor,’” NUPL’s statement read.

“The National Union of Peoples' Lawyers-National Capital Region (NUPL-NCR), which acted as private prosecutor for the Bonifacio family, built up and prosecuted these cases without any material government assistance, contrary to the posturing of the Department of Justice,” it added.

The NUPL also revealed that the police did not conduct an autopsy or ballistics examination regarding the death of the father and son. 

“These are strong indicators that they were being shielded from accountability,” NUPL’s statement read. 

“Mary Ann Domingo and the Bonifacio family were only able to access the Philippine legal system because of their tenacity, the support they received, and the wisdom of the judge. But this barely assuages the anguish of loss or addresses the violations in these killings or more so, in the whole ‘war on drugs,’” it added. 

The statement of the NUPL came after the Department of Justice (DOJ) released a statement on Wednesday, lauding the conviction of the four police officers.

On Tuesday, the Caloocan City Regional Trial Court Branch 121 convicted Master Seargent Virgilio Cervantes, as well as Corporals Arnel de Guzman, Johnston Alacre and Artemio Saguros guilty of homicide for the death of the father and son during the drug war in 2016.

The lawyers of the slain family members considered the conviction a partial victory as they initially sued the cops for murder, a higher charge compared with the court conviction. 

The convicted officers face a 10-year jail term and were ordered to pay P400,000 in damages to the victims’ heirs.

Philstar.com has reached out to the DOJ for comment about the matter, but it has yet to respond.