Friday, June 01, 2007 Witnesses ‘did not identify Favila’
WITNESSES did not identify Michel Favila Sr. as the man who shot to death lawyer Arbet Sta. Ana Yongco in 2004, according to former National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7 director Reynaldo Esmeralda.
Two witnesses working as helpers in the Yongco household pointed to a certain Robert “Bobby” Gamana, who is facing murder charges in Iligan, as the gunman, Esmeralda said before Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Bienvenido Saniel Jr. Esmeralda is one of the defense witnesses for Favila, the main suspect in the Yongco murder.
According to him, the NBI investigated the murder of Yongco after her husband, Filemon, asked them to do so.
He narrated that they asked house helpers Marifel Abadilla and Babie Jane Lague to describe the triggerman.
From the descriptions given, a cartographic sketch was drawn.
Sketch
The sketch was sent to the district offices of the NBI throughout the country as part of the agency’s standard operating procedures.
Esmeralda said that an Atty. Bernaldez of NBI-Iligan called him up to say that the sketch resembles Gamana, who was once investigated for the death of a policeman.
The picture of Gamana was e-mailed to the NBI Cebu Office and was shown to the witnesses for identification.
Aside from Gamana’s picture, Esmeralda said they also showed the witnesses a photo of a former bodyguard of Ruben Ecleo Jr., Philippine Benevolent Missionary Association (PBMA) supreme leader.
Yongco was the private prosecutor in the parricide case against Ecleo.
Esmeralda told the court that Abadilla and Lague pointed to the picture of Gamana saying he was responsible for Yongco’s death.
‘Not happy’
He also claimed that when the picture of Favila came out of the papers as the gunman, they showed it to the witnesses and asked them if he was the gunman.
According to Esmeralda, Abadilla and Lague said no.
He also narrated that former Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) president Manuel Monzon requested that the helpers be brought to the IBP office for some clarifications.
Abadilla and Lague never returned, said Esmeralda.
When asked what he felt when the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) filed a case of murder against Favila, Esmeralda replied, “I was not happy with the filing of the case against another suspect because we feel that we already have strong evidence against Gamana. We feel that we are not giving justice to Arbet.” (KNT)
