Exasperated fiscal wants fugitive shot and killed

CEBU CITY — Frustrated by the failure of authorities to arrest a man accused of murder, a provincial prosecutor filed a motion in court last week to have that man shot and killed.

But the motion angered the judge and the prosecutor ended being reprimanded in addition to having his motion denied.

Prosecutor Vicente Mañalac, suspecting that police were afraid of a certain Romeo Pardillo, one of the three accused in a murder case who has remained scot-free since 1996, asked Regional Trial Court Executive Judge Galicano Arriesgado to have Pardillo shot and killed.

The two others accused in the mauling and fatal stabbing of one Ronnie Talandron in Minglanilla, Jerry Herbias and Cris Paragat, have long been arrested.

In his motion, Mañalac said, "If the arresting officer is afraid of the accused, he should be told by the court that he can, when all the elements of self-defense are present in the conduct of arrest, lawfully shoot and kill said accused, without thinking, but with instinct."

Mañalac said the public must be protected from criminals who are roaming freely and that "a murderer circulating himself freely (in) society is dangerous to the well-being of the law-abiding populace."

He insisted that the court should require the police to explain what appears to be their dereliction of duty in failing to arrest Pardillo.

The motion, however, did not sit well with Arriesgado, who said it did not stand on valid and legal grounds.

"That is the law of the jungle. The law in the jungle has no place in a civilized society," an apparently irritated Arriesgado said.

Arriesgado said he could not believe that Mañalac could file such as a motion and that he was surprised to find the motion actually being placed on record.

Arriesgado said he believed Mañalac was not joking with his motion but was serious about it, apparently convinced that Pardillo was the most guilty of the three suspects.

Arriesgado said he did not act on the motion because it did not serve any purpose. "I have left it in the limbo of forgetfulness," he said.

"Every person, though how criminal he may appear, is not meant to be shot but entitled to a fair hearing. That is a constitutional right," Arriesgado reminded Mañalac. — Freeman News Service