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Abaca
stripper guilty of frustrated homicide
The
Regional Trial Court recently sentenced an abaca
stripper to eight years in jail for helping his
brother, whose death enabled him to escape
justice, hack another man in San Andres four
years ago.
RTC
Branch 43 Judge Romulo P. Atencia found Willy
Manlangit, 23, single, guilty beyond reasonable
doubt of the crime of frustrated homicide and
meted him a prison term ranging from three years
as minimum to eight years and one day as
maximum. He was likewise ordered to indemnify
the victim, Lolito Bona, of the sum of P34,000
in actual compensatory damage plus P20,000 as
moral damages.
The
case against his co-accused, his brother Jose,
was dismissed by the court in its Order dated
Feb. 7, 2001 after Jose died.
According
to Bona, he was on his way home from the school
site in barangay San Vicente at about 4:30 P.M.
of March 31, 1997 accompanied by his
sister-in-law and his brother-in-law when they
met the accused Willy Manlangit. When he turned
his head, he also saw co-accused Jose Manlangit
about 10 meters away.
Bona
told the court that Jose accosted him and then
hacked him on the bridge of his nose so he ran
away. He was also hacked in the back by Jose,
with Willy pointing a gun at him.
Prosecution
witnesses Hermelina Escala and Ruben Duena, who
accompanied Bona, confirmed the testimony of the
victim and said that Willy pointed an air gun at
them all the while. Barangay tanod Benedicto
Abad also testified that he saw Jose hack the
victim four times using a 15-inch bolo and that
when he shouted at the accused, Willy put down
the rifle he had been poking.
On
his behalf, Willy Manlangit claimed that at the
time of the incident he was on his way to the
house of Emily Sualibio where he was employed as
a caretaker when he met Bona and his two
relatives. When Bona saw him, the former threw a
stone at him and then chased him, causing him to
immediately run away to the forest. He also
alleged that his brother Jose was not in the
vicinity and that barangay tanod Abad was never
in the area.
In
his decision rendered last Feb. 23, Judge
Atencia pointed out that Willy Manlangit never
denied the testimony of prosecution witnesses
that while Jose was hacking Bona, he had an air
gun aimed at Bona's group. "This...leaves
no doubt in the mind of the Court that, indeed,
the acts imputed to him are true," said
Judge Atencia.
The
Court held that the act of Manlangit in pointing
an air gun at Bona's companions while his
brother hacked the victim shows confederation
between the brothers.
For
the original charge of frustrated murder to be
proven, Atencia remarked, the elements of
premeditation and treachery should be present,
which was not in the case at bar. Thus, the RTC
Judge said, accused Willy Manlangit could only
be held responsible for the crime of frustrated
homicide.
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