MANGYAN DOT NET: Virtual City of Mindorenos!

The Sandiganbayan has lowered the penalty of a policeman from Oriental Mindoro, who shot dead a bank robber, from murder to homicide and likewise reduced his sentence from 12 years to just over two years imprisonment maximum, when the anti-graft court held that the accused was in the legitimate performance of his duty as a police officer to pursue and arrest the bank robbers.

However, the accused-appellant, SPO1 Ruben Magluyan, a member of the Philippine National Police (PNP) assigned at the Calapan Police Station, had exceeded the fulfillment of his duty when he shot the “unarmed” robber in the body, and not in the legs. Due to this, the Sandiganbayan had to impose a penalty of homicide.

Magluyan shot dead one of three robbers identified as Celso Cabatay, during a chase of the suspects after thieves robbed the First Allied Development Bank in Calapan, Oriental Mindoro in 1993.

In Jan. 5, 2007, the Regional Trial Court Branch 40, of Oriental Mindoro, found Magluyan guilty of murder qualified with treachery and sentenced him to suffer imprisonment ranging from six years minimum to a maximum of 12 years and one day. He was arrested and put to prison in the provincial jail of Calapan, with his bail cancelled.

Magluyan was also ordered to indemnify the heirs of Cabatay the amount of P100,000 as civil indemnity and the amount of P75,000 as moral and exemplary damages.

His co-accused, Calapan PNP policemen Senior Inspector Alexander Aceveda, SPO2 Romulo Hernandez and SPO2 Rolando de Chavez were all acquitted by the RTC of Oriental Mindoro due to “failure on the part of the prosecution to prove the guilt of the accused”.

The case against the other accused, Calapan policeman Chief Inspector Jose Jaymalin, was dismissed earlier by the RTC due to his death while the case was still pending. Magluyan then appealed the case before the anti-graft court.

During appeal, the Sandiganbayan Fourth Division ordered the modification of the verdict against Magluyan from murder to homicide.

The Sandiganbayan also reduced the sentence of imprisonment from six years minimum to 12 years and one day maximum (for murder), to just six months minimum to two years, 11 months and 11 days maximum (for homicide).

The 28-page decision was penned by Associate Justice Rodolfo Ponferrada.

It was concurred in by division chairman Associate Justices Gregory Ong and  Jose Hernandez. The decision was promulgated Feb. 11, 2008.

Court records showed that in June 2, 1993, at around 11:40 a.m., the three bank robbers robbed the First Allied Development Bank in Calapan, Oriental Mindoro.

The policemen, armed with guns, chased the robbers. In the course of their pursuit into the forested area in Barangay Puting Tubig, the policemen caught up with one of the robbers, Cabatay.  Magluyan was armed with an M-16 Armalite rifle, while the others, with handguns.

Cabatay was shot and killed by the pursuing police officers and that the suspect was positively identified by the bank employees as one of those who robbed the bank.

It appeared in the court records that Cabatay was allegedly shot by Magluyan even after the robber was arrested. It also appeared that Cabatay was not armed when he was arrested.

No shootout also happened before Cabatay was arrested, court records showed.

In their decision, the Sandiganbayan said that Magluyan had exceeded the fulfillment of his duty when, after he had arrested Cabatay and while he was holding his nape, the police officer immediately pushed the robber causing him to run and being shot by the former using his M-16.

“This act of accused-appellant (Magluyan) in immediately shooting directly at the victim (Cabatay) without any warning is obviously not justified because he used unnecessary force or wanton violence or resorted to dangerous means when the arrest could be effected otherwise,” said the Sandiganbayan.

 “There was no need for accused–appellant to shoot directly at the victim at that particular time because there was no imminent threat on his life considering that at the time his co-accused police officer de Chavez was present and that the victim was unarmed,” said the Sandiganbayan.

The Sandiganbayan said when Cabatay ran as a result of the push in an attempt to escape arrest, Magluyan may only resort to the extreme act of shooting, not directly to the body, but on the legs only for the purpose of disabling him so that he could be arrested.

Philstar.com

Comments (0)

You must be logged in to post a comment. Please register if you do not have an account yet.