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Sunday, May 30, 2004
Devinadera conviction endangers Ecleo's case
CEBU CITY -- The conviction of Cedrick Devinadera has placed an unnecessary risk in the parricide case against Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association supreme master Ruben Ecleo Jr.
So admitted one of the prosecutors handling the case before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) 18 in Cebu City, which is presided by Judge Anacleto Caminade.
"Our impression is, our case is in danger. But there must be a solution to this. Otherwise, it will be easy to destroy all the pending cases. People will be filing cases in Sulu, asking others to own up to the crime so the case in Cebu can be dismissed," said the prosecutor, who asked not to be named.
Lawyer Democrito Barcenas, Integrated Bar of the Philippines-Cebu City chapter president, opined, though, that there is still a chance the decision of RTC Branch 60 Judge Ildefonso Suerte in Barili, Cebu on Devinadera's confession can be reversed by a higher court.
"The decision becomes final when it is a decision of acquittal or if it is for conviction, the accused has started serving his sentence, unless the judgment is void because of some defects," he pointed out.
These defects, he added, can be fatal to the decision, which can be reversed or voided by either the Court of Appeals (CA) or the Supreme Court.
Lawyer Arbet Sta. Ana-Yongco, who is prosecuting Ecleo for parricide, had said she would raise the issue on Devinadera's conviction before the CA.
Defense lawyer Orlando Salatandre Jr., for his part, intends to use the conviction in seeking the dismissal of Ecleo's parricide case before RTC Branch 18.
Ecleo, also a former town mayor, is out on a P1-million bail granted last April.
Judge Suerte had convicted Devinadera, 33, after the accused pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of homicide in connection with the death of Ecleo's wife Alona-Bacolod Ecleo.
Devinadera went to the police in General Santos City last December and confessed that he had a hand in the killing of Alona last January 2002. But he pointed to Ben Bacolod as the one who killed his younger sister over money.
However, six months after the crime, Ben was gunned down together with his parents and another sibling in their residence in Mandaue City on June 18, 2002, the same day Ecleo was arrested in his hometown San Jose, Dinagat Island, Surigao del Norte. Ecleo surrendered after he was cornered and only after 13 of his supporters and a policeman were killed in a gunbattle with lawmen.
Judge Suerte had maintained that the prosecutor's office did not make him aware of a pending parricide case against Ecleo for the killing of Alona.
But the public prosecutor who took part in the parricide case said there must be a court rule that tackles the inapplicability of the decision on Devinadera in the parricide case.
Although he could not as yet point to a single case, he opined that this kind of tactic is foul because when allowed, it will make it easier for any defense lawyer to secure a dismissal of the main case.
Following this logic, the prosecutor said that all a defense lawyer has to do is to find a person who is willing to own up to the crime, file a case and secure a conviction. This conviction can then be used in moving for the dismissal of the main case.
"But we are still working on this. If (we could not find any law or rules on this), then we will file an appeal or attack the validity of the (Suerte) decision itself," he added. GAN
(May 30, 2004 issue)
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