3 men get life terms for bizman’s murder

By Dexter S. See

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet — The Regional Trial Court Branch 64 here sentenced three persons to life imprisonment for conspiring in the brutal killing of a businessman in front of his residence in Barangay Pico, La Trinidad, Benguet over six years ago.

The businessman identified as Rimando Batchi was based in Mankayan town in the province.

In a decision, Judge Agapito Laoagan Jr. also ordered the accused, Moises Chopchopen, Marcelo Chopchopen, and Benedict Fassong to pay the heirs of Batchi, the total amount of P338,000 to pay cost of litigation as well as moral and exemplary damages.

Court records showed the businessman was shot to death by three armed men in front of his residence in the early morning of Jan. 9, 2004 while he was preparing for an errand.

The court found the three individuals guilty beyond reasonable doubt since they were not able to dispute the pieces of evidence and the testimonies of credible witnesses.

One of the suspects, Marcelo, in his testimony before the court, admitted he and Fassong killed Batchi because, according to a policeman whom they named as Alok, the businessman was the alleged mastermind in the celebrated Lepanto holdup incident the previous year where over P25 million worth of gold was carted away.

Lawyer Jose Limmayog, former regional director of the National Bureau of Investigation in the Cordillera, told the court the three persons reportedly killed the businessman in revenge for the killing of their relative, Peter Chopchopen, a native of Sadanga, Mountain Province, who was one of several security guards killed by armed men in the Lepanto robbery incident on Sept. 20, 2003.