GAPAN
CITY, Nueva Ecija – The Office of the Ombudsman has dismissed the complaints
for murder and grave misconduct against the mayor and a barangay chairman of
this city in connection with the killing of four persons, including a policeman
in 2013.
Mayor
Maricel Natividad-Nagaño and Sta. Cruz village chief Montaño Barlis were
cleared of the charges, according to a 13-page joint resolution issued by
assistant special prosecutor Maria Janina Hidalgo approved by Ombudsman
Conchita Carpio-Morales on Aug. 28 and released on Tuesday.
The
charges stemmed from the ambush on Barangay Pambuan chairman Emerson Pascual at
Sizzlers Haus restaurant in Barangay San Lorenzo on Aug. 13, 2013.
Pascual’s
security escort Police Officer 2 Jefferson Lim, his driver Rufino Vendivel, and
civilians Consuelo Manse and King Jasper Juvinal were also killed.
Records
of the case showed that the gunmen alighted from a sport utility vehicle owned
by Maricel.
Maricel
denied involvement in the attack, adding that her vehicle was parked in their
residential compound on the day of the killings.
Barlis
also denied involvement in the crime, saying he was at the city hall during the
ambush.
“The
reason for the attack and its target had not been determined with certainty and
arose only from Pascual’s own suggestion, not from investigative work,” the
ombudsman ruling stated.
There
is no evidence that either Maricel or Barlis participated in the incident, it
said. “Neither could they be said to have acted in conspiracy with the
unidentified gunmen since their concurrence or participation in the common
felonious objective was not demonstrated,” it added.
The
ombudsman said cases must be resolved on the basis of law and evidence and not
speculations or emotions.
No comments:
Post a Comment