Cult leader seeks dismissal of raps

CEBU, Philippines - Suspected cult leader Casiano Apduhan has asked for the immediate dismissal of the criminal complaints filed against him before the Cebu Provincial Prosecutor’s Office.

Apduhan has officially filed his counter-affidavit where he denied the complaints for murder, child abuse, and expanded anti-trafficking in persons.

Apduhan said he never killed Angelo Repuela, 15, whose remains were exhumed by the agents of the National Bureau of Investigation at the underground of his villa in Barangay Buanoy, Balamban.

“The mother, Remegia Repuela, merely stated that her son died without elaborating categorically the cause of his death neither did she categorically stated whether her son was intentionally killed or how he was killed…or who delivered the fatal blow,” Apduhan said in his counter-affidavit.

 According to Apduhan, when spouses Eleuterio and Remegia Repuela transferred to Laray, Buanoy, Balamban, Cebu, from Naga City their son was already suffering from an undiagnosed illness.

He said the boy had a swollen right cheek below his right ear. The boy eventually died in 2012.

 Apduhan said it was not true that he instructed his followers to bury Angelo at the underground of his villa. Apduhan said that during Angelo’s death he was in Negros.

He likewise denied forcing the Repuelas to work with him. The couple filed the complaint against Apduhan for murder.

Aside from Apduhan, two of his followers- Zacarias Barquito and Victor Fajardo- were also included in the complaints for murder and child abuse.

 Like Apduhan, Barquito and Fajardo also denied the complaints and sought for its dismissal.

Apduhan is also facing charges for serious illegal detention and illegal possession of firearms before the court. The serious illegal detention charge stemmed from his alleged detention of Emma Nepomuceno for five years. Nepomuceno, however, testified for him. But, the prosecutors insisted that Nepomuceno’s testimony should not be given weight because she is allegedly suffering from Stockholm syndrome.— (FREEMAN)