‘Biased’ fiscal to testify in Carl-Kulot murder trial

MANILA, Philippines — The Caloocan prosecutor who became controversial for his apparent bias in the case of slain teenager Kian delos Santos is being eyed as a defense witness in the murder case of Carl Angelo Arnaiz and Reynaldo “Kulot” de Guzman.

During the hearing yesterday before the Navotas Regional Trial Court Branch 287, defense counsel Dodjie Encinas asked the court to issue a subpoena for prosecutor Darwin Cañete to testify during the next hearing on Feb. 22. 

Cañete was the fiscal who inquested the scene where Kian was killed and another scene two days later where the 19-year-old Arnaiz allegedly shot it out with the police after supposedly robbing taxi driver Tomas Bagcal in Caloocan on Aug. 18, 2017.

A vocal supporter of President Duterte on social media, Cañete became controversial after posting a call to kill the “Yellows” like cockroaches, and for questioning the innocence of 17-year-old Kian, who was slain in a police operation on Aug. 16, 2017.

The Caloocan Regional Trial Court later convicted three police officers for killing Kian in an anti-illegal drug sweep.

Cañete was reassigned to Mandaluyong due to the incident and returned to Caloocan six months after.

He is also part of the Department of Justice (DOJ) panel prosecuting the illegal drug charges against detained Sen. Leila de Lima before the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court.

“What did you expect, that I would not support my own President? He didn’t order anything bad. He just wanted to make the country better. I am not supporting anything illegal,” Cañete had said about allegations of partiality in an interview with The STAR in May last year. 

Cañete said he wrote a comic strip titled “Little Digong,” where a child Duterte is his main character while members of the Liberal Party were his antagonists.

Questioned

DOJ state prosecutor Xerxes Garcia questioned the choice of a city prosecutor like Cañete to serve as a defense witness.

Despite the controversies that hounded the fiscal, Encinas said Cañete is best fit to convince the court that Arnaiz was killed in a shootout in Caloocan, not Navotas, because it was he who conducted an inquest of the crime scene.

Prosecutors accused Police Officers 1 Jefrey Perez and Ricky Arquilita of not only killing the teenagers, but also of staging the crime scene in Caloocan. 

Prosecutors said Perez and Arquilita killed Arnaiz at a dark, grassy area in Navotas on Aug. 18, 2017, while his 14-year-old companion Kulot was stabbed and dumped in a creek in Nueva Ecija.

Witnesses

Encinas also asked the court to accept as evidence news footage that “Joe Daniel,” the prosecution’s lone eyewitness, was once arrested for posing as a fake priest to solicit money from Congress.

Joe Daniel testified seeing Arnaiz alight from the vehicle handcuffed and run to a grassy area along C3 Road, where he was shot thrice by the policemen.

Joe Daniel also swore under oath that he saw another boy inside the police vehicle, presumably Kulot.

The prosecution is still on the lookout for Bagcal, who has gone missing since the case was filed.

In a counteraffidavit filed before the Department of Justice, Bagcal said the police officers threatened him to claim that Carl robbed him and shot it out with the lawmen.

He also said he was told to claim Kulot was not involved in the robbery.

He said he saw the police officers take the teenagers to C3 Road and kill Carl as the teen begged for mercy.