The Court of Appeals (CA) has junked the plea of one of the accused in the fatal hazing of University of Sto. Tomas freshman law student Horacio “Atio” Castillo III.
The plea, filed by Ralph Trangia, sought to compel a Manila City regional trial court judge to inhibit from hearing and deciding the violation of the Anti-Hazing Law case filed against Trangia and several others.
In a decision promulgated on September 22, 2023 and penned by Associate Justice Rafael Antonio Santos, the CA’s First Division resolved to deny the petition of Trangia, one of the accused in the death of Castillo, seeking to compel Acting Presiding judge Shirley Magsipoc- Pagalilauan of Manila City Regional Trial Court, Branch 20, to inhibit from hearing his case on ground that the judge did not commit grave abuse of discretion in refusing to grant the motion for inhibition filed by the petitioner.
The appellate court did not give weight to Trangia’s claim the alleged failure of the judge to address the issues he raised in his demurrer to evidence shows that she would not be able to decide with utmost partiality.
“After a careful review of the record of this case, as well as the applicable laws and jurisprudence, the Court finds that petitioner failed to prove his allegation that a court a quo committed grave abuse of discretion when it denied his motion for inhibition,” the CA decision said.
Trangia has sought the inhibition of Pagalilauan on grounds of alleged partiality in denying his motion for demurrer evidence last February 24, 2022, which seeks the immediate dismissal of the case on the ground of insufficiency of evidence.
On March 10, 2022, the respondent judge issued an order denying Trangia’s motion, prompting the latter to move for the reconsideration of the said order, but the same was denied on March 28, 2022.
With the denial, Trangia elevated his appeal to the Court of Appeals arguing that Judge Pagalilauan committed grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction in denying his motion for inhibition and the subsequent motion for reconsideration considering that she showed partiality in denying his demurrer to evidence despite clear showing that the prosecution failed to prove its case against him.
The appellate court noted that prosecution witness Mark Anthony Ventura identified Trangia as Master Initiator 2 and stated that the latter was among the fraternity members who were present during the final rites and even pinpointed him as one of the fraternity members who paddled Castillo.
Ventura was also a member of the Aegis Juris and present during the alleged hazing.
In his petition, Trangia claims that Ventura is not a credible witness as his testimony is replete with inconsistencies and that his testimony is contrary to the physical evidence on record. Trangia also argued that the Manila RTC ruled with partiality in favor of the prosecution without considering his arguments with respect to Ventura’s credibility.
But the CA pointed out that there was sufficient basis for the trial court to deny the demurrer to evidence considering that the prosecution was able to prove all the elements of the offense charged through the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses, particularly Ventura.
“It is settled that the trial court’s assessments of the credibility of witnesses is accorded great weight and respect on appeal and is binding on this Court, particularly when it has not been adequately demonstrated that significant facts and circumstances were shown to have overlooked or disregarded by the court below which, if considered, might affect the outcome thereof,” the CA ruled.
In March last year, the Manila RTC also dismissed the plea of the 10 accused in Castillo’s death namely Trangia, Arvin Balag, Mhin Wei Chan, Axel Munro Hipe, Oliver John Audrey Onofre, Joshua Joriel Macabali, Robin Ramos, Jose Miguel Salamat, Danielle Hans Matthew Rodrigo, and Marcelino Bagtang, Jr.- to junk the criminal charges against them.
The accused argued the prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Castillo’s death was due to injuries sustained from hazing.
They also claimed that Castillo’s cause of death was hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and not severe traumatic injuries consistent with hazing.
However, the trial court ruled that the testimony of Ventura was credible and sufficient to attain conviction.