2008-07-16 18:25:01 -
Court metes life on 'NPA' leader, and brothers
By Judy Flores-Partlow and Juancho Gallarde
DUMAGUETE CITY www.balitapinoy.net
The Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 42 in Negros Oriental on Wednesday afternoon slapped a life term on notorious suspected Communist New People's Army (NPA) leader Raul Villar and two others for robbery with multiple homicide in a prominent case that dragged on for more than six years.
RTC Branch 42 Judge Marie Rose Inocando-Paras handed down the 16-page decision in
which Villar and brothers Julito Amaro, alias 'Ka Diolo' and Jaime Amaro, alias Junior, were found guilty beyond reasonable doubt.
Villar was the No. 1 most wanted person in Negros Oriental for the gruesome robbery and multiple homicide case, until his capture on January 8, 2007.
The 61st IB Army arrested him, along with his security escort, Fernando Mahilum, Jr., alias Ka Jongjong, at Sitio Kabankalan, Barangay Tayak in Siaton town.
To recall, Villar and the Amaro brothers were charged in court after they robbed and killed four employees of the Sta. Catalina municipal government on May 8, 2002.
The victims, Librado Dagat, Serafin Dinsay, Jr., Winnie Capunong and Virginia Edrial, were returning to Sta. Catalina in a government-owned ambulance when they were waylaid by armed men and forcibly taken to Barangay Maninihon, Bayawan City.
During the heist, the perpetrators then took some P372,342.49 cash representing payroll money which the victims had just withdrawn from the Land Bank of the Philippines branch in Bayawan City.
They then shot the victims, including a pregnant mother, with high-powered firearms, inside the van before they fled on motorcycles.
Immediately after that incident, one of the suspects, Jaime Amaro, surrendered to the police and admitted his involvement while also pinpointing to Villar as the alleged mastermind.
Amaro, who was detained at the Negros Oriental provincial jail, managed to escape in February, 2004, along with another inmate, Neil Carino, of Butuan City.
The other Amaro brother, Julito, was allegedly killed in a clash between Communist rebels and government troops last February 2, 2005 in Barangay Casala-an, Siaton town.
Negros Oriental Provincial Police Director P/Sr. Supt. Augusto Marquez, Jr. said he will verify the whereabouts of the Amaro brothers following the verdict to see if they are still alive.
Marquez said the conviction of Villar and the others is a 'message clearly delivered that crime does not pay'.
He said that the PNP, while in the pursuit for peace and reconciliation, underscores the need that the same should be done with justice.
'I call upon those who insist to threaten the people to reconsider their options and instead support the government's program to assist in helping the community', Marquez said.
'We can do this by uniting ourselves in pursuing our common goals for justice, peace and progress', he added.
Meanwhile, security has been tightened at the PNP Provincial Headquarters at Camp Fernandez, Sibulan town.
Marquez said Villar is still detained there until further arrangements with the court, and now that he has been convicted, the security risks of holding him at the camp are far greater.
While still at large, Villar had a P800,000 reward on his head in relation to the death of the four employees of Sta. Catalina.
Villar, in an interview with reporters at his detention cell at Camp Fernandez, laughed off the decision saying he will file an appeal.
He described the court decision as an injustice and that there were discrepancies in the hearing of his case.
For his part, former Negros Oriental provincial police director, P/Sr. Supt. Melvin Ramon Buenafe, lauded the province's criminal justice system in handing down the decision on Villar and company.
It was during Buenafe's stint in the province that Villar was arrested.
According to Buenafe, the court's decision to send Villar to life imprisonment 'gives confidence to law enforcers, to include the military, in the government's fight against criminality and insurgency'.
(Balita Pinoy - Philippine News & Analysis)
