Accused in Campbell slay pleads 'not guilty' in court

LAGAWE, Ifugao – Juan Donald Duntugan, accused of killing U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer Julia Campbell last April 8 in Barangay Batad, in the highland tourist town of Banaue, this province, pleaded not guilty to the murder charge filed against him when he was arraigned on June 20 at the sala of Regional Trial Court Judge Esther P. Flor of RTC Branch 34 at the Justice Hall here.

After the murder charge sheet was read to Duntugan by the clerk of court who repeated it in the Ifugao vernacular, Duntugan calmly and clearly said, “Not guilty” before a jampacked crowd of capitol employees, observers and police authorities.

Judge Flor repeated the answer of Duntugan for the record, and forthwith set the pre-trial conference of the case in the morning of July 23, 2007 and the pretrial proper at 2:30 p.m. the same day.

The prosecution and defense panels agreed. The 25-year-old Duntugan, who is now detained at the Tiger Hill provincial jail in Kiangan town has a one-man defense counsel in the person of lawyer Pedro Mayam-o, a member of the Ifugao sanggunian panlalawigan.

The prosecution is being handled by the law firm of Agrazamendez, liceralde, Gallardo and Associates based in Baguio City, assisted by Provincial Prosecutor Joseph Tumapang and Prosecutor Ronson Tilan.

The arraignment, originally sat earlier this month, was postponed after defense lawyers asked the judge that they be given time to study the amended information filed by a new battery of private prosecutors commissioned by the US government and Peace Corps Philippines.

During the investigation, Duntugan confessed having killed Campbell. But he claimed it was by an accident. He said the American bumped into him while she was on her way back to her rented room at Batad village in Banaue town. Duntugan, who hails from La Trinidad, Benguet, said he thought it was a neighbor with whom he had a longstanding grudge that he had hit with a stone.

He said it was too late for him to realize that it was Campbell whom he had hit. Mayam-o, Duntugan’s defense counsel, said amendments in the information presented by the prosecution through their Baguio-based private prosecutors meant he needed more time to study their arguments.

Meanwhile, the two father-and-son teams of Baguio lawyers said they will see to it that justice is served in the case.

Veteran lawyer Reynaldo Agranzamendez, his lawyer-son Glenn and San Miguel Liceralde with sons Miguel Jr. and Cres are the private prosecutors for the case.

“Our job is to bring justice to Campbell, her family and the US Peace Corps,” said Agranzamendez -better known in law circles here as “Attorney A-Z.”

He refused to elaborate further saying he wouldn’t want to be cited for sub judice.

Agranzamendez said he did not know why the US Peace Corps office in Manila on May 31 asked him if he could represent the Campbell family against Duntugan.

Agranzamendez said he was “honored” to handle the case. But he told newsmen probability of the murder case being dismissed was close to nil, since “Duntugan admitted it.”

Forensic experts earlier found no definite link to Duntugan from the evidence gathered at the gravesite where Campbell was found half-buried in Batad, Banaue.

Agranzamendez, who has been a litigant and a law professor for 32 years, was optimistic of obtaining a conviction though Dontugan is represented by former Mayam-o.

He said this is not the first time he was asked to represent a foreigner who was the victim in a sensational killing.

In the early 1990s, a Briton was killed in Benguet and Agrazzamendez represented him. “I was able to get a conviction for the killer.”

Among the many law offices in the country, Agranzamendez said he does not know why he and his law firm, which holds office at the Antipolo building in Baguio City, were chosen by the US Peace Corps.

Agranzamendez is also the law school dean of a “little known school outside Metro Manila” – the University of the Cordilleras – which produced two bar topnotchers in an eight-year period; Jeanette Abuel in 1998 and Noel Malimban in 2006.

Malimban’s extraordinary feat is attributed to his good study habits and UC’s professors, who are committed to excellence. – With a report from Juan B. Dait Jr.