Mall slay victim's wife wants trial halted

THE wife of a victim who died in a shootout inside a mall in Davao City last month submitted a motion to suspend proceedings at the Regional Trial Court Wednesday.

This developed as Natividad Kamendan, wife of Tamano Kamendan who was killed in a shootout with security details of Buluan town Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu, insisted Wednesday that the politician should be included in the case.

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Prosecutor Maria Gemma Dabbay Tambis, one of the panel of prosecutors, earlier said the motion for partial reconsideration to include Mangudadatu in the murder charges has yet to be resolved pending its filing with the court handling the case.

The case filed against PO1 Surab Lintukan Bantas and PO1 Ibrahim Langalen was raffled off to the Regional Trial Court Branch 16.

Natividad, through her lawyer, however, sought partial reconsideration of the March 3 joint resolution saying, "the investigating panel, in dismissing the case against respondent Mangudadatu (Esmael), went beyond its authority as investigating prosecutors, usurped the function reserved for judges to determine the guilt or innocence of an accused in criminal cases and relied upon evidence not presented in the manner prescribed under the rules of court."

The motion stated that there are more than adequate evidence to justify the indictment of Mangudadatu for the crime charged and clear and direct evidences do not exist to discredit the testimony of the victim's wife.

It added that the panel, composed of prosecutors Maria Gemma Tambis, Jofre Saniel and Marte Melchor Velasco, should have ruled as it did in charging accused Bantas and Langalen that Mangudadatu's alibis and excuses are matters of defense for the court to determine during trial.

It pointed out that "the obligation of the investigating prosecutors is clear and that is to determine whether a crime has been committed and whether or not respondents are probably guilty thereof, and should be held for trial" on the basis that the victim, Tamano, was with his four-month pregnant wife, Natividad, unarmed.

Mangudadatu and three of his children were reportedly at the JS Gaisano City Mall in Illustre, Davao City around 7 p.m. of February 11 when the shooting incident happened.

Mangudadatu, aside from his children, was said to be protected and guarded by two uniformed and armed police security escorts, respondents Bantas and Langalen, and was accompanied by two other civilian aides, James Musa and Arneil Alangkat.

"With the positive identification of respondent Mangudadatu and direct evidence of his ordering the shooting of Tamano Kamendan, there was already probable cause against respondent Mangudadatu" the resolution said.