WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE. News media called it a "bloody confrontation" between two families with three casualties at the end of gunfire.
Brothers Vanzant and Vincent Navales and three companions arrived in a car past 6 a.m. of January 21, 2019 at the house of the Bacaltos family in Sambag 1, Cebu City.
After some shouting from Vanzant for his love rival to come out, the father, Edwin Bacaltos, and this two sons, Shawn and Michael Vincent, emerged. An exchange of harsh words, "a heated altercation," ensued. Then bursts of gunfire.
When the smoke cleared, Edwin Bacaltos and his son Shawn, along with Vanzant Navales, felled by bullets, were seen lying on the ground. Vincent Navales and three companions later fled in a red Hyundai, news accounts said.
Michael Vincent N. Bacaltos was charged with homicide, for the death of Vanzant Navales. Michael Vincent allegedly "shot him several times, inflicting... multiple gunshot wounds" that caused Vanzant's death."
Arraigned on February 1, 2019, Michael Vincent pleaded not guilty.
CONVICTED. Last August 19, 2025, Presiding Judge Chauncy T. Boholst of the Cebu Regional Trial Court convicted Michael Vincent Bacaltos of homicide, sentencing him to jail for a period of six years to 12 years and to pay Vanzant Navales's heirs P50,000 civil indemnity for his death and P50,000 temperate damages.
The decision clarified, or filled gaps in, some points of the story reported earlier by news media. Here are some takeaways:
[1] CCTV FOOTAGE HELPED PROSECUTION. The images, caught by closed circuit TV camera at Aycardo Clinic near the Bacaltos residence, showed (a) a shirtless Edwin Bacaltos, holding a firearm, approach Vanzant Navales and (b) Edwin's son Michael Vincent, also shirtless and in black boxer shorts, with a gun pointed downwards, appear "and then run away shooting at someone."
[2] BOTH SIDES WERE ARMED. Edwin Bacaltos had a KG-9 submachine gun while Vanzant Navales had a Glock 19.
Edwin used the KG-9 to shoot Vanzant. Vanzant used his Glock 19, a 9 mm pistol, to shoot Edwin.
The third shooter was Michael Vincent, who picked up Vanzant's gun after the latter fell and shot "numerous times" the already wounded Vanzant on the ground.
And there was a fourth shooter, according to testimony in court. Ryan Christian Verano -- one of the companions of Vanzant -- allegedly picked up the KG-9 from the fallen Edwin and shot Shawn.
That must have not been established in the police investigation and prosecutor's inquiry. One version in the news media said Shawn must have been hit in the confusion of fire. Or the Bacaltos family chose not to go after Shawn's shooter.
[3] BULLET WOUNDS ON VANZANT. Vanzant suffered from eight gunshot wounds. Which one killed Vanzant: the wound inflicted by Edwin's firing or his son Michael Vincent's shots?
Dr. Benjamin V.J. Lara, who counted the wounds on different parts of the body, said seven were fatal and one was non-fatal. Any of the seven could have caused death.
When there are several persons firing a gun -- in the killing of Vanzant, two -- and the victim sustained several wounds, "it would be difficult or beyond the competence of post-mortem examination to determine which particular firearm caused the death..."
Atty. Virgil Ligutan, lead private lawyer for the prosecution -- ACP Jazzie R. Celocia-Paqueo represented the city prosecutor's office -- asked a prosecution witness about the condition of Vanzant Navales before Michael Vincent shot him. The answer: "Vanzant Navales was still alive, sir. He was still moving his head."
[4] WHAT'S NOT DISPUTED. The court considered the "uncertainty as to which of the fatal wounds caused the death. Still, the "totality of the evidence established by the prosecution is sufficient to sustain a conviction."
The court found "uncontroverted" the allegation that Michael Vincent picked up Vanzant's Glock 19 and shot him "numerous times" while the victim was lying on the ground.
The ruling said the two witnesses for the defense -- Michael Vincent's mom Alma Nacua Bacaltos and one Michael Anthony Enriquez -- did not "dispute the facts established by the prosecution."
[5] BAD BLOOD BETWEEN TWO FAMILIES. There had been altercations, confrontations, even a mauling involving the families of Bacaltos and Navales before guns barked on January 21, 2019. Vanzant's and Shawn's competition over one woman was reportedly the major cause.
Shawn Bacaltos, defense witness Enriquez said, was mauled by two men in the group of Vincent Navales at the Banilad Town Centre on August 19, 2018.
A news report said Vanzant and Shawn, both into car racing, ended a five-year friendship "after they found out they fell in love with the same woman."
Attempts to forge peace between the once-close families, including initiatives of the barangay justice system, failed to resolve their differences.
[6] TWO MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES. Michael Vincent was merely in their house on J. Alcantara St., the court said, when Vanzant and his companions arrived, started the shouting and caused the altercation, which led to the shooting. "Sila ang gisulong."
Michael Vincent's dad, Edwin, was already "hit and down"; so was his brother Shawn. That, before Michael Vincent picked the gun and fired it repeatedly.
The court found "passion and obfuscation" -- an "uncontrollable outburst of passion provoked" by the shooting of his father and brother, "a legitimate stimulus so powerful as to overcome reason."
That and Michael Vincent's voluntary surrender, with no aggravating circumstance, prompted the court to reduce the penalty of "reclusion temporal" by one degree.
[7] TRAGEDY COULD'VE BEEN AVERTED. What if they had tamed passion, held vengeful feelings in check? What if, since the two families couldn't be friendly with each other anymore, they had kept themselves apart? And what if they had not brought out those guns?
All "what ifs," which obviously were brought to mind only after the tragedy struck.