MANILA, Philippines — The Court of Appeals (CA) has reversed the acquittal of former police lieutenant colonel Rafael Dumlao as the mastermind of the kidnap-slay of South Korean businessman Jee Ick-joo in 2016.

The CA sentenced Dumlao to a life term without parole and ordered him to pay P350,000 in damages for the charge of kidnapping with homicide and P225,000 in damages for kidnapping and serious illegal detention, according to a statement by the Supreme Court issued yesterday afternoon.

Dumlao was also sentenced to another 35 years for carjacking.

The decision was penned by CA 13th Division Associate Justice Carlito Calpatura, who granted a petition filed by government prosecutors to nullify the 2023 decision of Pampanga Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 60 Judge Eda Dizon acquitting Dumlao, a former official of the defunct Philippine National Police Anti-Illegal Drugs Group (PNP-AIDG).

Grave abuse

In granting the petition, the CA found that Dizon “gravely abused (her) discretion by gross misapprehension of facts” when she acquitted Dumlao.

The CA also ruled that the proceedings before Dizon were “a sham and an apparent mockery of the judicial process.”

The CA held that “the RTC reached a conclusion that clearly contradicted the testimonies of witnesses, rendering the prosecution’s presentation of evidence inutile and blatantly abusing its discretion to a point so grave as to deprive it of its very power to dispense justice.”

“It erred in brushing aside the circumstantial evidence by the prosecution, which is sufficient by itself to support a judgment of conviction and could have galvanized Dumlao’s culpability,” the CA’s decision stated.

Dumlao, SPO3 Ricky Sta. Isabel, SPO4 Roy Villegas, former National Bureau of Investigation aide Jerry Omlang and Gerardo Santiago were charged for kidnapping and killing Jee.

They were also charged for the kidnapping and serious illegal detention of Jee’s househelp Marisa Morquicho and stealing Jee’s vehicle.

The Pampanga judge found Sta. Isabel and Omlang guilty but acquitted Dumlao.

Shakedown

On Oct. 18, 2016, Jee and Morquicho were arrested at his home in Angeles, Pampanga by unidentified men, who turned out to be members of the PNP-AIDG.

Morquicho was freed while Jee was brought to Camp Crame on allegations that he was involved in illegal drugs. The PNP-AIDG members demanded a ransom of P8 million for his release.

A resolution from the Department of Justice showed Jee was strangled to death on the night of Oct. 18, 2016 in his Ford Explorer parked near the Police Community Relations Group compound, meters away from the PNP headquarters.

Jee’s body was brought to a funeral parlor in Caloocan City, where he was cremated and his ashes flushed down a toilet. Days later, his widow paid P5 million in ransom.

Villegas, who later turned state witness, identified Dumlao as the mastermind.

Dumlao was detained at the PNP Custodial Center but was later allowed by the court to post bail in 2019.