Judge wrong to strike out slain witness’ testimony – De Lima

MANILA, Philippines - A Quezon City judge handling the trial of “carjack kings” Raymond and Roger Dominguez set a bad precedent by striking out the testimony of a slain witness, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said yesterday.

The Dominguez brothers and several others, alleged members of the brothers’ gang, are being tried for the murder of car dealer Venson Evangelista in 2011. Prosecution witness Alfred Mendiola, who identified the suspects in Evangelista’s death, was found dead in Cavite in 2012. He had been hogtied, gagged and shot in the head.

“It is really wrong. If that is the case, you would be encouraging the accused and those evil men to just kill the witnesses… We already perpetuated (his testimony) and they want to cast it aside. That is very unjust and improper,” De Lima said after meeting with Evangelista’s father, Arsenio, yesterday.

The judge who issued the order is Wilfredo Maynigo, according to Arsenio.

The elder Evangelista complained about the slow progress of the case, saying that of the 16 witnesses listed in the pre-trial conference, only two have been put on the witness stand.

De Lima said the Department of Justice prosecutor handling the case filed a motion for reconsideration “because the judge’s action was wrong… I will monitor that very closely.”         – Evelyn Macairan