ANGELES CITY -- The Regional Trial Court (RTC) here has granted the plea of Police Lieutenant Colonel Rafael Dumlao, who was tagged as suspect in the killing of South Korean businessman Jee Ick Joo in 2016, to post bail.
In a 32-page decision, Angeles City RTC Branch 56 Presiding Judge Irin Zenaida Buan said the prosecution has no strong evidence to prove Dumlao's guilt.
"Sifting through the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses, the court holds that none of them proved a particular act or acts of the accused Dumlao that clearly established his complicity in the abduction and killing of the victim Jee Ick Joo," the court said.
The RTC cited that Jee's wife, Choi Kyung-Jin and house helper Marisa Dawis Maorquicho, did not mention Dumlao's participation in the crime.
The Korean businessman was abducted in Angeles City by a group of policemen before he was allegedly killed inside the Philippine National Police (PNP) headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City.
President Rodrigo Duterte tagged Dumlao as the principal suspect in the Korean businessman's killing.
The RTC set P300,000 bail for each case Dumlao is facing, which include kidnapping for ransom with homicide, kidnapping and illegal detention, and carnapping.
The court denied the motion to post bail of the two other policemen -- Ricky Santa Isabel and Jerry Omlang -- accused in Jee's killing.
The RTC stated that based on the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses, it established that direct acts were committed by Santa Isabel and Omlang. This proves a united purpose and design, which established conspiracy between the accused to commit the crime.
“The said testimonies clearly paint a picture that crimes were in fact committed and that accused Sta. Isabel and Omlang directly participated in the commission of the same," the court added.
Police Master Sergeant Roy Villegas, one of the accused in the crime, turned into a state witness. He was released in February this year.
Villegas and another police officer, Christophere Baldovino, told the court that they heard Dumlao and Sta. Isabel's conversation on October 4, 2016 when Jee was kidnapped.
The court, however, stated that the conversation is not conclusive and did not establish conspiracy to commit the crime.
"While the said witness may have seen the three conversing, no assumption can be made that their conversation refers to an agreement or plan to kill the victim in this case," the RTC stated.
"Since witness Villegas was not privy to the conversation and no other witness was presented to prove the tenor of the conversation had, the Court cannot consider the said circumstance or actuation as proof that accused Dumlao conspired with his co-accused," it added. (SunStar Pampanga)