|
THE
Court of Appeals (CA) has affirmed the guilty verdict
handed down by the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Makati
City against an Indonesian and two Filipino members of
the Abu Sayyaf Group who were behind the 2005
Valentine’s Day bombing on Ayala Avenue in Makati City.
However,
instead of the death penalty originally imposed by the
lower court, the CA’s Seventeenth Division through
Associate Justice Edgardo Sundiam imposed a prison term
of reclusion perpetua against Gamal Baharan, alias Tapay,
Angelo Trinidad, alias Abu Khalil, and Rohmat Abdurrohim,
alias Jackie or Zaky, with no possibility of parole.
The RTC
in Makati, in a decision dated October 18, 2005, found
the three guilty of multiple murder and multiple
frustrated murder and sentenced them to death.
The
appellate court, however, modified the sentence owing to
the enactment of Republic Act 9346, which prohibits the
imposition of the death penalty.
The
three were found to be responsible for a powerful bomb
explosion inside an RRCG bus on the southbound lane of
Ayala Avenue near the Metro Rail Trail (MRT) station at
around 7:30 p.m. on February 14, 2005.
At least
four persons were killed in the explosion, while more
than 68 others were seriously injured.
In their
petition for review, the three claimed that their pleas
of guilty were made improvidently since the trial court
failed to explain to them the consequences of such
pleas.
The
three said the trial court did not conduct a searching
inquiry into the voluntariness and full comprehension of
the consequences of their pleas, thus, it failed to
perform its duty as mandated by the Rules of Court.
They
further contended that the evidence presented by the
prosecution does not constitute proof beyond reasonable
doubt to convict all of them.
In
junking the contentions of the accused, the CA noted
that in determining whether an accused’s plea of guilty
to a capital offense is improvident, the Supreme Court
held that it should be left to the judge’s discretion.
The CA
added that the singular barometer that the judge must,
in all cases, fully convince himself that the accused,
in pleading guilty, is doing so voluntarily and not
because he was coerced or threatened or under duress.
Based on
the records, the CA said, during the arraignment, the
informations against the accused were read in Filipino,
which they professed to speak and understand.
“Their
pleas of guilty were voluntary. There is no indication
in the records that their counsel coaxed or influenced
them, nor the judge threatened them with physical harm
or placed them under a state of duress. They manifested
full understanding of the consequences,” the CA ruled.
Likewise, the Court did not give weight to the claim of
the accused that the prosecution failed to establish
their guilt beyond reasonable doubt considering that its
witness Elmer Andales, the RRCG bus conductor, failed to
mention in his testimonies that he noticed any baggage
or item brought by them inside the bus thus, they were
not the persons responsible for the bombing of the bus.
The CA
stressed that just because the bus conductor did not see
them carrying any baggage when they boarded the bus does
not necessarily mean that no package of explosives was
brought into the bus by them.
The
testimonies of accused-turned-state witness Gappal
Bannah Asali, according to the CA, has made Andales’
claim more credible since the former admitted giving
explosives to Baharan and Trinidad before the explosion.
Asali
also confessed that they are members of the Abu Sayyaf
Group that admitted responsibility for the bombing; that
prior to Valentine’s Day, he had personal knowledge of
the fact that Baharan and Trinidad planted bombs in and
around Manila, which failed to explode; and that their
explosives instructor congratulated them for the
Valentine’s Day bombing.
Concurring with the ruling were Associate Justices
Monina Arevalo-Zeñarosa and Sixto Marella Jr. |
