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Thursday, June 22, 2006
Loot to ask Carcar police chief to explain
Senior Supt. Vicente Loot will ask Carcar Police Chief Teofilo Siclot to explain his statements, aired over a local radio station, that he plans to re-file the case against the Laputan brothers once they gather enough evidence.
In an interview over radio dyLA yesterday morning, Loot said another rape with homicide case against Maximo and Con-cordio Laputan will “not hold water” because of the double jeopardy rule.
However, he defended the Carcar police in their decision to file the case against the Laputan brothers, saying that at the time of the incident, the only evidence they had was the direct testimony of Ronnie Tabora.
The Laputan brothers were acquitted last Monday of raping and killing 13-year-old Maylen in Sitio Kamang-kamang, Barangay Ocaña in Carcar, Cebu. Maylen was Maximo’s daughter and Concordio’s niece.
Tabora, a nephew of Maximo and Concordio, is facing a separate case, after he admitted that he also raped the girl last Sept. 6.
Regional Trial Court Branch 14 Judge Raphael Yrastorza dismissed the case against the brothers, noting the “undue haste” with which the charges were filed.
Their job
He also ordered that the Laputans be indemnified with P10,000 each, for the nine months they stayed in jail.
Loot explained that their job was to submit the evidence they had to the prosecutor’s office and let them determine if there was probable cause to file a case.
Loot also said he does not believe his men will have to apologize.
“We were just doing our job,” he said.
He admitted, though, that there may have been some procedural lapses in the filing of the case, which led him to organize a back-to-basics seminar on the proper handling of evidence.
He said all investigators were made to attend the joint seminar with the Cebu Provincial Prosecu-tor’s Office to strengthen their relationship.
Meanwhile, some sectors said the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor could not be solely blamed for the “unnecessary” detention of the Laputan brothers, but they believe the office “could have done something to prevent it.”
By the book
Had Provincial Prosecutor Jane Petralba ordered a preliminary investigation before deciding to file the rape with homicide case against the two brothers in court under inquest, on the same afternoon the complaint reached the office, she could have uncovered the truth behind Tabora’s statements, they said.
“So, even if the office later knew that the two were wrongfully charged, the office could no longer let them go. The best that they could do was file a motion to dismiss and wait for the court to grant it,” another government lawyer said.
But Petralba, in an interview with Sun.Star Cebu, said the complaint was treated according to established rules.
She said the Laputans waived their rights under preliminary investigation when they were brought before her office last Sept. 12.
The two were also told that they could opt to sign a waiver of detention, but the two did not take up the offer.
“I cannot speak for them. Maybe they did not understand,” she said, adding that the two were not represented by counsel when they were brought in for inquest.
Assault
This, Petralba said, forced the office to resolve the charges prepared by Siclot based only on the evidence on record.
“The affidavit of Tabora consisted of four pages. It was very detailed. In the absence of any evidence to the contrary, there was really no other alternative but to file the case,” Petralba saidd.
Loot clarified, however, that the filing of the case was hastened because of a separate case of direct assault.
Police said that when they went to the Laputan residence to verify Tabora’s claims, they were met with violence, which led them to arrest the brothers for direct assault.
Loot said that if the direct assault charges were not filed within the reglamentary period, police would be forced to let them go.
It was only much later when Tabora admitted to participating in the crime that they amended the complaint and included him in the charge.
Loot added that in most murder and homicide cases, it is the identification of a witness that often strengthens a case. (MEA/KNR)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (June 22, 2006 issue)
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