Seaman's killers meted life imprisonment

MANILA, Philippines - The Caloocan City regional trial court yesterday sentenced to life imprisonment three accused in the murder of an apprentice seaman seven years ago.

Judge Thelma Canlas Trinidad-Pe Aguirre, of RTC Branch 129, in a 10-page decision, found Jomar Santolices, Zeus Belmonte and Queen Zara Aguiatan “guilty beyond reasonable doubt” for conspiring to kill Michael Paguntalan. “The killing was qualified by treachery because the victim was unarmed when attacked. Another fact, which points to the accused as assailants, is that after the stabbing, they fled. “Flight is an indication of guilt,” Aguirre said.

Court record shows that on the night of Feb. 17, 2003, Paguntalan, an apprentice seaman, and a resident of Dagat-Dagatan, Caloocan City, was stabbed dead for pacifying a street fight in their neighborhood. Witnesses pointed to Santociles, Belmonte and Aguiatan as the attackers but the three denied involvement in the killing.

“The original case was only homicide, but after the court conducted a reinvestigation upon the request of the accused, it was elevated to murder,” Superintendent Lyndon Torres, Caloocan City Jail warden, told The STAR.

The court claimed that it was Belmonte who stabbed Paguntalan with the help of Santolices. Aguiatan was the one who handed them the ice pick used in the murder.

The court also ordered Santolices and Belmonte to indemnify the heirs of the victim P100,000 for exemplary damages.

Aguiatan’s sentence was reduced to a maximum of 14 years because she committed the crime while she was still a minor.

Torres said the Caloocan City Jail would be turning over the convicts tomorrow to the national penitentiary in Muntinlupa City. – Pete Laude