MANILA – The camp of a father and son who were killed in a drug buy-bust operation in Caloocan City eight years ago will push for a murder conviction against the four convicted police officers.
Atty. Julian Oliva, the lawyer of the relatives of father and son Luis Bonifacio and Gabriel Lois Domingo, said they have a pending petition before the Supreme Court to review the Office of the Ombudsman verdict to charge the four cops of homicide.
“Kasi meron pa kaming naka-pending na petition eh, sa Supreme Court para reviewin ang desisyon ng Ombudsman na homicide lang ang finile na kaso,” Oliva said. “Tsaka ‘yung apat (lang kinonvict), hindi sinama ‘yung mga superior, ‘yung mga nagplano.”
The four Caloocan City cops, namely Virgilio Cervantes, Arnel De Guzman, Johnston Alacre, and Artemio Saguros, were initially charged with murder, but the Office of the Ombudsman downgraded it to homicide.
On Tuesday, the Caloocan Regional Trial Court Branch 121 sentenced Cervantes, De Guzman, Alacre, and Saguros to six years up to 10 years of imprisonment for the killing of the Domingos in September 2016.
The court also ordered them to pay P100,000 each for actual damages, moral damages, temperate damage, and civil indemnity with an interest of 6% per annum from the date of finality of the decision until fully paid.
Based on the ruling, the Caloocan City court was not convinced by the accused’s defense that the father and son fired shots, which prompted them to fire back; they also said that the testimony of Luis’ widow Mary Ann was more credible.
“It is highly improbable that these victims sustained multiple injuries in the different parts of their body if the accused fired only one shot each to defend and keep themselves safe from the gunshots coming from the upper part of the house,” the court said.
“The totality of the evidence presented would clearly show that the gunshots made by the accused were not intended to just protect the safety of the police officers,” the court said.
“The injuries sustained by the victims, the multiple gunshots on their bodies as well as other fractures and wounds would glaringly show the brutality employed upon them, despite the pleading for mercy of the victims,” it added.
Mary Ann, for her part, said that, while she was happy with the conviction of the four cops, they are hoping that it will soon be upgraded to murder.
“Masaya, pero mas masaya siguro kung murder talaga (ang hatol),” Mary Ann said. “Hindi lang ito laban para sa akin, para din sa anak ko lalo na sa apo ko na nawalan ng ama.”/PN
