‘Road rage’ lawyer posts bail

Pasig City legal officer Manito Hernandez posted bail yesterday afternoon after the charges against him were downgraded to two counts of homicide.

The Pasig City police filed double murder and violation of the Omnibus Election Code before the city’s prosecutor’s office.

Pasig police chief Senior Superintendent Francisco Uyami said they received information yesterday that Prosecutor Randy Esteban downgraded the charges against Hernandez to two counts of homicide and recommended P40,000 bail for each count.

Uyami noted that Hernandez was identified by witnesses as the killer of Edgardo Calesares and Catherine Palmero at the corner of Shaw Boulevard and Endriga street in Barangay San Antonio.

After a near-collision of their cars, Calesares, vice president of Total Information Management in Makati City, rushed out of his vehicle and repeatedly pounded on the window of the lawyer’s car, shattering the glass.

Uyami quoted witnesses as saying that Hernandez, armed with a 9-millimeter pistol, Hernandez rushed out of his car and confronted Calesares. A heated argument ensued, and Palmero got out of the car and tried to pacify the two men.

Witnesses said Hernandez opened fire four times at Calesares, sending Palmero running for cover. After realizing that Calesares was already down on the middle of the street, bleeding, Palmero approached and embraced him, crying.

Uyami said Hernandez shot Palmero twice in the back. Calesares was declared dead on arrival at the Medical City while Palmero died while being treated in the same hospital.

Hernandez escaped, but police officers from the Pasig City police and the Eastern Police District (EPD) traced him to his house in Barangay Kapitolyo, where he surrendered minus the fatal weapon.

When asked by reporters why Hernandez’s case was downgraded to homicide even if he shot Palmero in the back, Uyami said it is up to Esteban to explain his decision.

Observers noted that Esteban issued his resolution to allow Hernandez to post bail so that he would not stay in jail over the weekend.

Uyami also confirmed reports that Sandiganbayan Justice Jose Hernandez called him up to inquire about the status of the case involving his nephew.

“The good justice asked me about the status of the case which I readily explained to him,” said Uyami. “No pressure at all.”

EPD director Senior Superintendent Nilo de la Cruz earlier vowed that there will be no whitewash in the police investigation of the case.

Meanwhile, the Firearms and Explosives Division (FED) in Camp Crame certified yesterday that Hernandez was registered as owning a Walter .22 caliber pistol, but no other firearms.

Uyami said the FED’s records indicated that the gun used by Hernandez in killing two people is either a loose firearm or registered under another person’s name.

He said responding Scene of the Crime Operatives recovered six spent shells from a 9-millimeter pistol at the site of the killing.