Barangay dads file MR on RTC decision / 8 dumped cadavers

LETTERS FROM THE AGNO

March L. Fianza

BAGUIO CITY -- The Regional Trial Court Branch 5 of Baguio on August 28, 2019 found five barangay officials of Barangay Lower Gen. Luna guilty beyond reasonable doubt of two counts of falsification of public documents, but the accused immediately filed a motion for reconsideration (MR) over the decision.

In their MR, Punong Barangay Virgilio P. Manzo, Kagawads Dionisio M. Santos, Johnny L. Jose and Remedios A. Golidan; and Barangay Sec. Fides Corazon J. Cura claimed that the evidence on record does not clearly show the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt.

The complainants against the five in the two criminal cases nos. 36380-R and 36381-R namely Joanna Keziah E. Dacaimat, Iluminada D. Tongyofen and Mario P. Barcena were also officials of the same barangay.

Under the first criminal case, the five barangay officials were charged of conspiring, confederating and mutually helping each other “willfully, unlawfully and feloniously falsify a document denominated as Barangay Resolution No. 010 S. 2014 dated February 01, 2014.”

In the “genuine public document,” the accused made it appear that the complainants who were their co-barangay officials were present during a barangay meeting on Feb. 01, 2014, thus constituting a quorum, and thereafter passed Barangay Resolution No. 010 S. 2014 on same date, even while they knew that Santos and Dacaimat were absent, hence, the impossibility of the passage of the said barangay resolution.

The accused in their MR claimed that they were not properly heard on the matter where the court in its decision said that the attendance sheet, especially for legislative bodies, is signed at the beginning of every meeting to determine the existence of a quorum.

The decision signed by RTC Branch 5 Judge Maria Ligaya V. Itliong-Rivera said the attendance sheet “is the best evidence to establish the persons in attendance at a particular meeting.”

But the accused in their MR said, “the entries contained in the attendance sheet or minutes of the proceedings is decisive on the issue of whether or not the accused are guilty of the crime charged.” Hence, they should have been heard on the matter in accordance with the provision of Sec. 3, Rule 129 of the Rules of Court.

The second criminal case has almost the same circumstances. The same accused barangay officials were found guilty for falsifying Resolution No. 001-14 S. 2014, dated January 18, 2014 by making it appear that Internal Rules of Procedure for their sangguniang barangay was approved and passed on the said date.

But the court said, the accused knew that no IRP was approved and passed on January 18, 2014 as it was still the subject of deliberation by the barangay council on February 15, 2014. The court further stated that it was “illogical to still allow amendments to a resolution which was already passed and adopted.”

In their MR, the accused claimed the barangay resolutions subject in the two criminal cases were not passed for their benefit, and nothing had caused damage to either the government or third person.

They further claimed that there was “no evidence presented that the accused committed the crime with criminal intent.”

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It can no longer be denied. The 70-degree and 200-meter high precipice at Sitio Poyopoy, Barangay Taloy Sur in Tuba, Benguet remains to be the favorite dumping area of corpses by unidentified exterminators.

The latest news last Tuesday was that eight cadavers were found in their state of decomposition, including two skeletal remains at Poyopoy. But it does not mean to say that the Province of Benguet is no longer peaceful.

Everybody believes that the killings are done somewhere outside Benguet then the remains are dropped and hidden in the deep ravines of Sitio Poyopoy that overlooks the scenic view of the La Union Sea.   

Initial accounts by Tuba COP James Acod to the Benguet Provincial Police Office said, the foul and offensive stench that residents sensed on several instances prompted them to inform the police nearby.

P/Col. Elmer E. Ragay, Benguet PPO OIC-Provincial Director reported to members of the press that the bodies could have been dumped more than two weeks ago, while the two skeletons could have been dead for more than a year.

Poyopoy, as far as I can recall, came to prominence in the late 80s when summary execution of gang members such as the SSC (Sigue-sigue Commando), the BNG (Bahala na Gang) and the Sputnik hugged the headlines of newspapers.

But Tuba is not alone as it shares the limelight with La Trinidad, particularly the Longlong-Lamtang Road where the remains of a suspected drug personality was dumped and found last year.

Even the towns of Sablan, Itogon and Bokod have their stories to tell when it comes to human cadavers being dumped in their vicinities.

For instance, sometime in 1992, an old friend Engr. Albert Surla was laying asphalt on a road project in Sablan when they saw freshly dumped bodies of three women in a ravine.

Batangueno Albert’s quick response instinct was to look for me at the Midland Courier and make an incident report. One of the victims who happened to be a salesgirl in a La Union store survived her ordeal. Bokod, particularly at Sitio Ambangol above the Ambuclao Dam was at one time the dumping ground of three cadavers, believed to have been killed in Nueva Viscaya. Then Sitio Kamisong, Barangay Loacan in Itogon was where two unidentified male corpses were found.

However, these reports do not necessarily suggest that Benguet is not peaceful. The reports simply say that suspected criminals were executed somewhere before being dumped in Benguet.

The province’s deep and vertical ravines are indeed the best conditions that are crucial in concealing murdered suspects and fulfilling extra-judicial punishments.