An Olongapo City court has junked the criminal complaint against two Aetas last year, who were accused of violating the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.
In a nine-page order, Judge Melani Pay Tadili of the Olongapo City Regional Trial Court, Branch 97, said government prosecutors failed to present sufficient evidence to establish the guilt of accused Japer Gurung and Junior Ramos.
The court granted the motion for demurrer to evidence filed by the Public Attorney’s Office on ground that the prosecution failed to establish the identities of the accused as members of the New People’s Army who figured in a gunfight with army soldiers in August last year.
The RTC judge also directed the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology to immediately release Gurung and Ramos from jail unless they are being lawfully held in custody for any reason.
Gurung and Ramos had been accused of being members of the communist New People’s Army (NPA) as they were caught while going down the mountain in Sitio Lumibao, Barangay Buhawen, San Marcelino Zambales where an encounter between a group of NPA members and the military took place.
However, the Aetas said they were merely leaving the area due to intense military operations and continued bombings in their ancestral lands.
The prosecution argued that Gurung and Ramos were positively identified as the perpetrators of the crime based on an eyewitness account.
It noted that 2Lt. Fritz Entoma and 2Lt. Ian Dominic Oran saw the two during the gunfight and that they knew their names and facial features because of profiling of suspects.
But the trial court noted that based on its perusal of the sworn statements of the two army officers, no declaration was made that they saw the accused during the gunfight.
The RTC also pointed out the “blatant inconsistency” from the declaration of Entoma and Oran that they were able to recognize Gurung and Ramos because they were shown pictures of the accused in a briefing before the operation, but in their sworn statements, they made no mention of being shown pictures of the two.
The testimony of Entoma and Oran was also contradicted by the testimony of another junior officer, who told the court that no pictures of the accused, or videos, were shown to the soldiers during the pre-operational briefing.
These inconsistencies cast doubt on the testimony identifying the accused as perpetrators of the crime, the judge said.
The Olongapo City court also held that since the prosecution failed to prove that Gurung and Ramos were the perpetrators of the crime they were accused of, their warrantless arrests are considered invalid.
Consequently, the trial court declared the shotgun ammunition, grenade, 7.66 mm ammunition and instruments used for detonation seized from the accused were rendered inadmissible under the exclusionary principle in Article III, Section3 (2) of the Constitution.
“Considering that there is no more evidence to support the conviction of the accused, the cases for violation of… the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulations Act and Presidential Decree 1866 against them must be dismissed,” the court said.
At a media briefing, PAO chief Persida Acosta said she was elated at the court order to release the two Aetas.
Gurung and Ramos were the first to be charged with violation of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.
“I call on the Armed Forces of the Philippines to respect the decision of the court,” Acosta said.
The Aetas were formerly represented by the National Union of People’s Lawyers before PAO took over the case.
The National Task Force to End Local Communist and Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) on Monday welcomed the dismissal of the case filed against the two Aetas in Zambales.
A joint statement released on June 17 by the two agencies said the court’s decision to drop the charges against the Aetas was a sign that the justice system in the country is functioning fairly.
"The decision has clearly shown that our justice system works, hears, and decides cases fairly, without fear or favor," the joint statement read.
The NTF-ELCAC and NCIP said the invalidity of an arrest leads to several consequences, one of which is any search incident to the arrest becomes invalid thus rendering the evidence acquired constitutionally inadmissible.
The two agencies vowed to protect indigenous people against communist rebels and their front organizations.
