Lozano seeks murder raps vs son's alleged killers

MANILA, Philippines - Lawyer Oliver Lozano said yesterday that the case filed against reported carjack kings Raymond and Roger Dominguez in connection with the killing of his son, Emerson, should be murder, not homicide.

The elder Lozano issued a statement after the Department of Justice (DOJ) released its resolution approving the indictment of the Dominguez brothers for car theft with homicide for the killing of Emerson and his companion, Ernani Sencil, last January. The panel of prosecutors also found probable cause to indict Jayson Miranda, Roland Talban, Napoleon Salamat and a certain alias Marlon, based on the testimony of Alfred Mendiola.

According to Lozano, he will file a motion for reconsideration before the DOJ. Under the law, “if the killing is with cruelty, outraging or scoffing at the corpse (it) is murder,” he said. “Murder should (not) be downgraded to homicide to avoid the perception that there is dough in downgrading.”

The elder Lozano and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group filed a complaint for car theft with murder before the DOJ, which said there was no circumstance established to qualify the killing as murder.  

DOJ Prosecutor Claro Arellano clarified yesterday it did not downgrade the charges. “It’s a complex crime and we recommended no bail so there’s no downgrading there,” he told The STAR.

In a 17-page resolution released Monday, the DOJ panel said “nothing on record would show Emerson and Ernani were killed.” The fiscals said “where treachery is not adequately proved, the appellant can only be convicted of homicide.”

The Dominguez brothers, Miranda, Talban and Mendiola are all facing car theft with homicide cases before a Quezon City court for the killing of Venson Evangelista, who was abducted a day after Emerson went missing.

Both of them were car dealers and selling vehicles (a Toyota Land Cruiser for Evangelista and a Kia Carnival for Emerson) at the time they were abducted. Their burned corpses were found in different provinces.

Mendiola, who wants to turn state witness, admitted to having posed as a buyer of the Land Cruiser that Evangelista was selling at the time he was abducted.