Golf caddie meted life term for abducting boy

A man suffering from schizophrenia was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Makati Regional Trial Court yesterday for the abduction of a six-year-old boy almost three years ago.

Judge Sixto Marella Jr., in his six-page decision, found Felix Beltran guilty beyond reasonable doubt of kidnapping Fidel Quintero who remains missing to this day.

Marella also denied the suspect’s plea of insanity even though there was evidence to substantiate the claim.

Based on the court records, the victim was reported missing on Oct. 6, 1998 by his father Rosauro.

The father claimed that the last time he saw his son was when he asked him to buy bread at a nearby store.

The boy’s playmate, Crisanto Eskol, said that he was playing sipa with the victim at around 3 p.m. of Oct. 6, 1998 in front of their house on Retiro street in Barangay Guadalupe Nuevo, Makati City.

Eskol said a fight broke out between him and Fidel over the possession of the sipa.

The fight ended with the victim sprawled on the road in tears over the loss of his sipa.

Eskol said that the suspect approached the crying boy and carried him over to a nearby store.

Eskol claimed that he saw the victim again later that day along Maestra street while he was on his way to bring food to his aunt.

Another witness, Angelita Varias reported that she saw the victim with the suspect eating bread at the consular gate of Fort Bonifacio the following day.

It was only when Varias met the victim’s grandfather that she discovered Fidel was missing.

Varias said she was very familiar with the suspect as he always hung around the area and was described as "untidy and mentally retarded."

Beltran denied the accusation, claiming that he was at the Fort Bonifacio golf course on Oct. 6 doing his chores as a caddie.

The lawyers of Beltran also claimed that their client suffered from a mental disorder that rendered him unable to distinguish right from wrong.

The defense presented the medical report of Dr. Hyacinth Manood, medical officer III of the National Center for Mental Health in Mandaluyong City after she examined the suspect on Sept. 11, 2000.

Manood indicated that Beltran was suffering from chronic schizophrenia which she claimed was not treatable. She also noted that the suspect has been an out-patient of the NCMH since 1981 and has been confined for four times already.

However, Judge Marella denied the plea of insanity because the date of the diagnosis presented by the defense was long after the time the crime was committed and the actual condition of Beltran on Oct. 6, 1998 could not be determined.

Marella ruled that Beltran, being the last person who had custody of the suspect can be held criminally responsible for his subsequent loss, notwithstanding the absence of evidence of the whereabouts of the child after the morning of Oct. 7, 1998.

Beltran was charged with violation of Article 267 of the Revised Penal code. He was also ordered to indemnify the parents of the child with P50,000. –Marvin Sy