Crim Case/S 28288 Rendon
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FIRST DIVISION PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, Plainti ff~ CRHvI. CASE NO. 28288 -Versus- PRESENT: GERALDEZ,1. Chairman PONFERRADA, & GESMUNDO, JJ. VICENTE G. RENDON, Accllsed. Promulgated: . -,1.1 , ',' Ii' {/.' •/i'l, 1:)// .'.,;' ,i i;. '/./ x -----------------------------------------------------------------------------x DEe TS ION· PONFERRADA, .T.: Acclised VICENTE G. RENDON is charged \vith violation of Section 3(e) of R,A. 3019, as ali1ended, otherwise knO\vn as the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, under the following Information' - Crim. Case No. 28] 18 "That on or about the month of l'vlarch 2003, at the Municipality of Sebaste, Pro\'ince of Antique, Philippines, and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above-named accused VICENTE B. RENDON, a public officer, heing then the Municipal Mayor of Sebaste, Antique, in such capacity, in the performance of his official duties an(~ committing the offense in relation to office. with deliberate intent. evident bad 'faith and , manifest partiality. in order to give undue advantage and unwarranted benefits or preference to the j~1l1lilyof the \:ictim. Montano Demafiles. did \J\,J II~ecords. Vol. I.pp.I-3. \i J"IrJ",( I .~, •..•• _. __ . •••••,_~ __ ~,_b • DECISION· Crim Case No. 28288 Page 2 Peuple \'s. Vicente G. Rendon ------------.-- ..---------------------------------.------------------ then and there \\illfully, unlawfully and criminally. induce Eduardo Santos Ignacio to execute a false affidavit to implicate Jonathan Dioso and the latter's (3) minor companions in the killing of said Ivlontano Demafiles, by offering fv1r. Ignacio a job at the fvtunicipality of Sebaste and Five Thousand Pesos. v,hich f'vlr. Ignacio accepted and which could not have done(sic) if he were not then the tvtayor of Sebaste, Antique, thereby causing the filing of the charges against Jonathan Dioso and his three companions and their subsequent detention for the murder of ivlontano Demafiles resulting to undue injury to the said Jonathan Dioso and his parents tvlr. andt\lrs. Touchie Dioso. who were f()rced to hire the services of a lm\j'er in the amount of One Hundred Thousand Pesos and incidental expenses arising from his detention in the amount of Three lIundred Thousand Pesos, to their damage and prejudice. CONTRARY TO LA W.·· Upon his arraignmcnt on August 16, :2005, the accuscd cntered a plea orNOT GUILTY to the offense charged in the foregoing ilifprmation.2 A fter the pre-trial con ference held on October 25, 2005 the Court issued an Amcnded Pre-trial Order3 dated January 17, 2006 which contains the following stipulation of facts and issues agreed upon by the parties, to Wlt- "111.STIPULATIONS I. That at all time material to this case, the accused was a public official occupying the position of Municipal tvlayor of Sehaste, Antique; 2. That during his incumbency as fVlunicipal Mayor, more specifically on February 11. 2003. a certain tvlontafio Demafiles was fOllnd dead within the premises of the' 1~ltter's residence; 3. That tvlontailo Demafiles was a relative of the accllsed being the latter's nephew; 4. That Jonathan Dioso was a· minor during. the period material to herein action: 5. That Jonathan Dioso was attending secondary schooling at the St. Blaise I Jigh Schoo! in Sebaste. Antique: 6. That Romeo ~'1. Silda was an cmployee of tlH~ rV!unicipality of Sebaste. Antique. specifically a Janitor. during all the timc material to herein action; 2 Id. ~!Ipp. 91-92. , td .. at pp. :206·:215. I _.. ~- -----.-- .... - ! DECISION - Crim Case No. 28288 Page 3 People \'s. Vicente G. Rendon 7. That it \vas accused fv[ayor Rendon who told Dexter DemafiIes, the brother of the deceased, to hire the services of the Castillon and Castillon Law Office for the purpose of prosecuting the perpetrators of the crime; 8. That on March 10, 2003, a crimina! complaint for Murder was filed before the 51h tvlunicipal Circuit Trial Court of CulasL Antique against J0I1athan Dioso, hereinafter referred to as "The tVlinor"; 9. That a preliminary investigation was conducted by the Honorable Judge Felixberto P. Barte of the 51h Mlll1icipal Circuit Trial Court on tVlarch 13, 2003. which investigation resllltecl in a' finding of probable cause against "The !'vlinor"; I O. That the Judge's finding of probable cause was baseel on the sworn statements of Romeo tvl. Silda and Eduardo S. Ignacio, who both claimed to have personally witnessed the alleged murder; II. That on IV[ay 8, 2003, Eduardo S. Ignacio executed an Affidavit of Retraction stating inter alia, that his declaration in his S\\iorn Statement dated March 13, 2003 were all false; 12. That "The fv[inor" was detained at the Sebaste Municipal Jail, and thereaf1er at the Bureau of Jail IVlanagement and Penology Office in Culasi, Antique; 13. That on November 10, 2003, accused I'vlayor Rendon requested the urgent and immediate relief of five (5) Sebaste Philippine National Police Officers, namely, P03 Eugene C. Insigne. SPO I .lose.!. Condino., P02 Jonathan R. Dapat, PO I Levi C. Dalumpines, and PO I Valentin B. Calanog; 14. That the foregoing request was supposedly on account of accused 1vlayor Rendon's alleged loss of confidence in said officers for 'obstructing [hisl drive against illegal drugs, insurgency and r for] engaging in other activit ies which are greatly prejudicial to his peace and oreler campaign in Sebaste; 15. That the accused 1vlayor Rendon's letter requesting the immediate relief of the named police officers was dated November 10.2003. IV. ISSUES 1. Whet her or not the accused fabricated and/or caused the fabricaiion of evidence against Jonathan Dioso, Jay Gellang, Jonathan f'vlanalo, and Jacinto Imbang while in the performance of his official duties or in relation to his public ) position; ") \Vhether or not the accused caused undue ll1.Jury to \1 .•.. ~~_._.~, .._--_._ ..__ .. - DECISION - Crim Case No. 28288 Page 4 People .vs. Vicente G. Rendon Jonathan Dioso, his family, and the government in abusing his position as Municipal rVlayor of Sebaste, Antique; 3. Whether or not the acclIsed acted \vith manifest partiality, evident bad faith or gross. inexcusable negligence against ··The f\itinor"; and 4. Whether or not the private complainant and the accused are entitled to civil damages." EVIDENCE FOR THE PROSECUT10N At the trial, the prosecution presented the following witnesses and exhibits - \\!ITNESSES I. P03 Eugene C. Insigne - a member of the Philippine National Pol ice (PN P) and assigned as warrant officer at the Municipality of Sebaste, Antique. He testi fied that he became a member of the PNP at the Sebaste Police Station in 1987; that in 2003, after he was desigmlled as police investigator of the said police station, he investigated the killing of one rvlont8l10 Demafiles of poblacion Sebaste, Antique on February 11,2003; that in his investigation, he interviewed several persons including four (4) male high school students, namely, Jonathan Diqso, Jonathan Manalo, Jacinto Imbang, and Jay Gellang who denied the killing so that none of them become suspects; that since the pol ice cannot find any \vitness or identify any suspect to the killing, the accllsed, who \vas then the TvIunicipaJ !\IIayor of Sebaste, Antique, told him that he wi I! look for witnesses; that on february 26, 20G3, the accused brought to their police station one Romeo Silda, a Utility \\forker in the l'vlunicipality of Sebaste, Antique as a witness to the killing; that after he interviewed Silda, he prepared the latter's affidavit and signed it in the presence of the accused and P02 Elmer , Dionila. Ire further testi fied that even with the statement of Silda;'\ '\ \ -" ... \ ' he could not still file a casebecallse another witness is still necessary to corroborate Silda's account; that it was only after / · I J~__. I DECISION - Crim Case No. 28288 Page 5 People \'s. Vicenle G. Rendon Eduardo Ignacio has submitted an affidavit-l that they were able to file a criminal complaintS with the 5th fv1unicipal Circuit Trial COUrL of Culasi, Antique charging the said four (4) male high school students with the crime of murder for the death of Montano Dema fi les; and that he arrested the said four accused af1er a \Varrant of Arresth \vas issued by the court and detained them at the Sebaste Police Station. Moreover, he testified that pursuant to a letter request70f the accused dated November 20, 2003 and addressed to Sup!. Ronelo B. Quebrar, Officer-in-Charge, Antique Police Provincial Office, he and other four (4) pol ice officers were relieved from the Sebaste Police' Station and he was reassigned at Semirara, Caluya, Antique; that after getting hold of the said letter of the accused, they "'·/rote a letter dated December I, 20038 addressed to Sup!. Ronelo V. Quebrar denying the allegations of the accllsed in his letter of November 20, 2003; and that as stated in the third paragraph of their letter, he and the other relieved pol ice officers executed an undated DeClaration9 that they are not privy to the acts of J'vlayor Vicente Rendon in fabricating evidence against Jonathan Dioso, Jonathan I'v1analo, Jay Gellang, and Jacinto Imbang. 2. 1\1•.. Edllanlo S. Ignacio - a cook and a resident of Poblacion, Sebaste, Antique. He testi [led that he knows personally the accused, Vicente Rendon, \vho was the JVlunicipal Mayor of Sebaste, Antique in 2003; that in the afternoon of February 28, 2003, Romeo Silda went to his house and told him that accused Mayor Rendon wanted to talk to him and, as tole!, he went to the hOllse of the accused \vhere the latter told him that if he will agree to be a witness for the 8rrest of some persons, the accused would give him PS,OOO.OO and a job in the municipality; ane! that since he I Exhibit "B".