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Thursday, January 24, 2008
Ex-Batangas guv admits killing of biz partner
MANILA -- Former Batangas governor Jose Antonio Leviste maintained his claim that he shot his long time business confidant Rafael delas Alas last year in self-defense in an emotional testimony before the Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC).
Taking the witness stand at the sala of Makati RTC Branch 150 Judge Elmo Alameda for the first time since the January 12, 2007 incident, Leviste broke down as he narrated to the court what transpired inside his office at the 9th floor of the LPL Tower, Legaspi Village Makati that fateful day.
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That was "the saddest moment of my life. I don't know what and how it happened," the 68-year-old Leviste said in his nearly three hours of testimony adding that he and delas Alas have been together for four decades.
Leviste admitted he shot delas Alas repeatedly, but he said he did so when the victim was about to pull a gun on him in the middle of their argument inside his office. Leviste insisted it was done in self-defense and he would apologize to the delas Alas family.
"If I have not done that I would not be here testifying but sometimes I thought its better for me to die. My life has suffered so much, my family, my daughter Toni has to cancel her international commitments in equestrian. Media has been so unkind to me. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has been unkind to me. I suffered the most," the former local official said.
Leviste's daughter is an internationally renowned equestrian and has won several medals for the country in international competition over the years.
He has three daughters with his first wife and two teenage sons with Senator Loren Legarda.
Narrating his relationship with delas Alas, he said he first got to know the former way back in 1966 when he was appointed by former strongman Ferdinand Marcos to head the local housing authority, the forerunner of National Housing Authority (NHA).
He said as a fellow Batangueño, he took delas Alas under his wing as his executive assistant, and when he ran for vice governor of his province in 1971, the victim volunteered to serve in his campaign.
"I was impressed by his performance so I took him in and when I became the governor after the death of our governor I brought him with me," he said adding that when he left the post in 1980 he recommended him to serve as the chief of staff of a local mayor until the 1986 Edsa People Power revolution when then President Corazon Aquino replaced all officials with her appointees.
He said delas Alas came once again in his life in 1994 when he appeared in his office and sought employment in his company, Jalco, as an executive assistant.
Leviste said he only has high praise for his confidant adding that they maintained a close relationship over the years and that he still wished him alive today.
He, however, noted a change of behavior in delas Alas after the 2004 presidential election when he began to take back the many functions he delegated to him and his staff. During this time he was politically active in his province and in the campaign of his then wife, Legarda, who ran as the opposition vice presidential bet along with actor Fernando Poe Jr.
"His behavior began to change in 2005 after the elections. I began to notice that he had problems: health, personal and financial which he confided to me," he said.
He told the court that delas Alas has a suspected cancer of the colon and he underwent an operation in 2005 while having personal and financial problems which deal mainly with how to sustain his two mistresses, both employees of Jalco.
"He (delas Alas) talked to me about his worries. He maintained two women at the same time and I told him it was an untenable position," Leviste said adding that a month before the incident, delas Alas asked him to help him in providing financial assistance to one of his women.
"He told me he wanted to provide financial assistance in the amount of P50,000 monthly to one of the women for 20 months or until August 2008 for a total of P1 million and he requested my help," Leviste said adding that he told him to put his request in writing.
On January 3, the former governor said delas Alas indeed presented him the letter request which he confirmed on the night of January 11 when he called the former and several of his staff for a meeting to discuss his plan to streamline the company to prevent overlapping of functions.
But he told the court that delas Alas become agitated and objected over his proposal.
"He objected and said he was the only one who could control the company's employees," Leviste said.
On the day of the incident, Leviste testified that delas Alas was in a "bad mood" when he entered his office and demanded the P1 million instead of the P50,000 as earlier agreed.
He said delas Alas was "pacing back and forth" outside his office and said in a very loud voice "I'm brave because I always carry with me my gun," showing his caliber .9mm pistol tucked in his waist.
At that point, Leviste said, that one of his confidants, Maa Ambrosio came and he asked him to mediate between him and delas Alas.
Ambrosio refused to mediate saying he did not know the root of their argument. Ambrosio then left the room.
Shortly after, delas Alas pulled out his gun and "tried to shoot me so I immediately got out of the line of fire, pulled out my pistol and shot him. I don't know if I hit him but he raised his left hand in a karate-style chop while his other hand still had the gun and fearful that he might shot at me, I fired again and he slumped on the chair."
"I never hurt him and we never had an altercation before, maybe minor arguments but that's the way we Batanguenos talked. I treated him like my prodigy and then this thing happened," Leviste said.
"I was bewildered shocked and my knees wobbled. I began to feel nauseated and dizzy. It was the worst feeling of my symptomatic stroke," Leviste said adding that he then asked one of his staff to bring him to the Makati Medical Center where he was confined and surrendered later to Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay and Makati Police Chief Gilbert Cruz.
He said he was suffering from hypertension for the past 10 years and has sustained five minor strokes.
Leviste admitted he was armed with a walter pkp 380 semi-automatic pistol while delas Alas has with him a caliber .9mm pistol.
Medico-legal examination conducted by the Southern Police District (SPD) showed that delas Alas sustained several gunshot wounds in the head.
The Makati Prosecutor's Office initially charged Leviste with homicide, but the delas Alas family appealed and Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez Sr. ordered the case upgraded to murder and replaced the prosecutor with Senior State Prosecutor Emmanuel Velasco.
Later during the prosecution's turn to cross-examine him, Velasco tried to put doubts on his testimony and zeroed in on the statement given to the police by his staff, Nelia Gonzalez saying Leviste and delas Alas figured in a heated argument the night before the incident.
Velasco tried to punch holes in the accused testimony saying it was contrary to human experience not to call for help from the police in the presence of a combative and dangerous man.
He also said as far as the self-defense claim is concerned, it has not been well established since Leviste did not give a statement to the police.
"It is paramount in cases of self-defense that a statement is given at once. It must be proven convincingly," he said.
The prosecution's line of questioning triggered a verbal clash with lead defense lawyer and Velasco's former boss at the DOJ, former Undersecretary Ramon Esguerra, who replaced Manuel Singson as the accused lead lawyer after Singson succumbed to cancer last week.
Delas Alas's daughter, Dina, meantime said she did not believe in Leviste's statement adding that if the former governor really valued his relationship with his father then he should have taken, at the very least, ordered his employees to bring him to the hospital for treatment after the incident.
Dina also belittled Leviste's statement of relief after his testimony and said he should have apologized to them. (AH/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Iloilo. (January 24, 2008 issue)
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