DR. MARVIN Rey Pepino, the suspect behind the shooting of a Grade 9 student during a scuffle at a bar in Davao City, has been released on bail on Thursday morning, July 21.
This comes two days after the City Prosecutor’s Office (CPO) signed a resolution stating that they find no probable cause to charge Pepino with murder for the death of Amierkhan Mangacop on July 2. The Prosecutor, instead, charged the assailant for homicide.
The news on Pepino's bail was first disclosed by the family, through a statement.
"We are still discussing our next move with our lawyers," the Mangacop family said.
The family, meanwhile, said they had filed a motion to cause the issuance of a precautionary hold departure order before the CPO.
"The family feels that since he has the financial capacity, he would escape prosecution by going abroad for good," they said.
SunStar Davao has reached out to officials from CPO for comments on the matter, but they have not responded as of writing.
However, in a short text message, Police Regional Office (PRO)-Davao Davao spokesperson PMaj. Atty. Eudisan Gultiano confirmed to SunStar Davao that Pepino has been released on bail.
Gultiano declined to divulge any additional information as she is not the "proper authority" to release it.
The resolution is in response to the murder complaint filed by the Mangacop family against Pepino, a non-uniformed doctor of the PRO, who has been tagged as the shooter of Pepino outside a bar in Camus Extension, V. Mapa Street in the city.
However, the Prosecutor find "no probable cause" to charge Pepino with murder, as stipulated under Republic Act (RA) 10591, based on the evidence submitted, particularly the CCTV footage of the incident.
CPO said, "the killing was not attended by any qualifying circumstances under Article 248 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC)."
They said the attack was sudden and unexpected to the person assaulted.
The Prosecution said that the shooting cannot be considered as treacherous when the respondent was down on the ground after being ganged up on by several persons.
The resolution also downplayed any "abuse of superior strength." The provided evidence failed to show that Pepino had the advantage of the incident.
The Prosecutors also did not see any evidence to prove that the shooter intended to kill the victim.
Thus, Pepino cannot be charged with murder, but instead, qualified for homicide.
The suspect also stated in his counter-affidavit that his action was "self-defense."
The Pepino camp has not released any statement since the case was filed. RGL