Friday, May 23, 2008
‘Shooter’ of radioman wants to post bail
THE accused in one of the media-killing cases being heard in Cebu wants to post bail.
Former Lezo, Aklan mayor Alfredo Arcenio, through lawyer Ramiro Madarang Sr., said there is not enough evidence against him to be held for trial without bail.
“Their only witness has already recanted,” Madarang said in an interview. Arcenio is being charged for the Nov. 13, 2004 killing of Bombo Radyo-Aklan broadcaster Herson Hinolan.
Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Sylva Paderanga is not acting on the motion, though. In an order handed down in open court, Paderanga wants Arcenio brought to Cebu and arraigned before any motion is heard.
Mastermind
But while Paderanga is calling the shots in the Arcenio case, another RTC Judge has been barred from hearing the media-killing case raffled to him. The prohibition is contained in an injunction order issued by the Court of Appeals (CA) in Cebu.
RTC Judge Simeon Dumdum was set to hear the murder case filed against Osmeña Montañer and Estrella Sabay, the alleged mastermind in the murder of Cotabato journalist Marlene Esperat, when the lawyers for the defense filed a restraining order from the appellate court.
In the Aklan case, Madarang revived and revised a December 2006 bail motion that the RTC in Aklan dismissed even before the Supreme Court stepped in and, last March 18, moved the hearing to Cebu City.
Madarang, in the motion, cited how the prosecution’s lone witness, Peter Melgar, had already recanted his Nov. 8, 2004 statement that identified Arcenio as the shooter, adding that he “made an honest mistake in pointing to the accused as the assailant.”
Premeditation
He attached an Oct. 27, 2005 affidavit signed by Melgar before Assistant Prosecutor Apolinar Barrios of Aklan.
Hinolan, who was station manager for Bombo Radyo Aklan, was shot repeatedly last Nov. 13, 2004.
According to a witness, Arcenio, chased Hinolan and fired at him repeatedly until the radioman fell and died.
But the Provincial Prosecutor of Kalibo, Aklan said it was “not inclined to support” the “theory” that the shooting was done with evident premeditation.
Provincial Prosecutor Lourdes Quimpo-Mayor, upon the recommendation of Assistant Prosecutor Barrios, instead lodged a homicide charge that allowed the release of the gunman after posting a P120,000 cash or surety bond.
The victim’s family, supported by journalism groups, managed to secure a reversal. Moreover, they were able to successfully petition the SC for a change of venue.
State Prosecutor Leo Dacera and Assistant Cebu City Prosecutor Ghandi Truya said the prosecution’s evidence is anything but weak.
Dacera, in an interview with reporters after the hearing, said Melgar has not formally recanted.
Testimony
Moreover, his testimony is so heavy that Arcenio hid immediately after investigators secured the witness’ testimony.
“That is why this case took so long. He was never arrested. Only when reports that the witness recanted did he surface. And he immediately submitted his (first) motion for bail,” Dacera explained.
On the Esperat case, the appellate court said the SC has yet to clarify if the resolution it issued transferring the venue of the original hearing of the case - from Cotabato to Cebu City - included the alleged masterminds and not simply the assailants.
Agriculture
Esperat died last March 24, 2005 after she was shot inside her house in Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat, in the presence of her children. She was 46.
Esperat was then the regional chemist of the Department Agriculture (DA)12. She also wrote a column in the Midland Review called “Madame Witness” and hosted her own radio program.
At the time of her death, she was pursuing a graft case against several DA officials, including then undersecretary Jocelyn “Joc-joc” Bolante, for allegedly dipping their
fingers into a P432-million fertilizer fund.
The alleged assassins-Randy Grecia, Gerry Cabayag and Estanislao Bismanos-were convicted last Oct. 7, 2006 in a separate trial before Judge Eric Menchavez, also of the RTC in Cebu City.
A fourth accused, Rowie Barua, was excused from the case after turning state witness.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) resolved to file the murder case against Montañer and Sabay almost three years after the killing, using facts uncovered during the trial.
“Barua pointed to Sabay and Montañer as the masterminds,” the resolution prepared by State Prosecutor Geronimo Sy and approved by Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuño read. Barua, an army sergeant, was Montañer’s close-in security escort.
The DOJ resolved to file the information here in Cebu, using as basis the SC decision transferring the case against the assassins from Sultan Kudarat to Cebu. (KNR)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (May 23, 2008 issue)
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