LTO ‘fixer’ gets life sentence

A Pasay judge has sentenced to life imprisonment a 21-year-old "fixer" at the Land Transportation Office (LTO), who stabbed to death a 65-year-old man more than a year ago in Pasay City.

Judge Edwin Ramizo of the Pasay City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 114 also ordered Romeo Managbanag to pay the heirs of the victim, Ruben Tabilog, P50,000 for his death, P75,000 for moral damages and P147,824.00 for actual damages.

Court records showed that on June 25, 2005, the victim’s 15-year-old granddaughter Marjorie heard Tabilog, who was living in an adjacent house, crying for help. She rushed to the house and found her grandfather lying on the floor with several stab wounds in different parts of the body.

Tabilog’s attacker, was still inside and stabbed Marjorie in the back and fled. Marjorie testified in court that her mother heard her crying in pain and found her and Tabilog wounded.

A team from the Pasay police, led by SPO1 Alberto Antonio, immediately went to Cavite after receiving information that Managbanag, who was identified by Marjorie in court as the attacker. He was arrested.

Managbanag denied the accusations and alleged that he was staying in his uncle’s place in General Mariano Alvarez town in Cavite when the incident happened.

However, the court did not give credence to Managbanag’s testimony, saying that "both denial and alibi are weak defense, which become even weaker in the face of positive identification of the accused by prosecution witnesses."

Judge Ramizo also said in his nine-page decision that "the accused failed to convince this court that it was physically impossible for him to have been at the scene of the crime when the stabbing incident was committed."

"Although he claims he was in Cavite during the commission of the crime, he failed to demonstrate that it was physically impossible for him to be at the place of the incident," the decision further stated.