Court demands birth records of slay suspect from NSO

A DAVAO City court judge has directed the regional office of the National Statistics Office (NSO) in Davao Region to produce a copy of the birth certificate of an accused, who claimed to be a minor, in the killing of a 23-year-old nurse in February.

Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 17 presiding Judge Evalyn Morales insisted for a copy of the birth certificate of Carlo Maduyag Millado to support his claim of being a minor and yet cannot provide the court with his birth records.

Millado is the principal suspect in the killing of Marjorie Kwan on February 18.

Prosecutor Marte Melchor Velasco charged Millado with robbery with homicide and recommended no bail for his temporary liberty.

Velasco, in his resolution as approved by prosecutor Jose P. Garcia Jr., said the testimony of the complainant Marvin Kwan, brother of the victim, that Millado admitted the crime and even sought for his forgiveness is credible enough. Millado did not resist when arrested by police.

"The circumstances show that he surrendered to the authorities without resisting the arrest. At the police station, he even sought forgiveness from the complainant," Velasco ruled.

During the pre-trial conference of the case, Morales directed lawyer Rudy Alonzo of the Public Attorney's Office, the counsel of the accused, to present the document to prove that Millado is indeed a minor. But no birth certificate was presented until the last hearing of the case on June 14.

During the same pre-trial conference, both parties did not enter into any plea-bargaining agreement, thus the marking of pieces of evidence shall be used in the course of the trial.

A copy of the requested document is expected to be presented in the next trial of the case next month.