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BACOLOD CITY — A pastor of the United Church of Christ within the Philippines (UCCP) and his seven co-accused have lastly been free of jail after greater than 5 years behind bars.
UCCP Pastor Jimie Teves and his “churchmates” Jodito Montesino, Jeppy Romano, Jasper Aguyong, Rogelio Sabanal, Eliseo Andres and Rodrigo Medes stepped out of the Negros Occidental District Jail in Bago Metropolis on Nov. 19.
One other one of many accused, Susan Medes, was freed on Monday, Nov. 18.
Teves and his co-accused often known as the “Himamaylan 7,” had been acquitted of two counts of homicide and 7 counts of pissed off homicide.
The case is in reference to the loss of life of two Military troopers–PFC Vicente Marcon and Sgt. Sandy Arevalo–and the damage of seven others.
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This occurred in an encounter in Barangay Tan-awan, Kabankalan Metropolis on Might 12, 2018, two days earlier than barangay elections.
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Choose Rodney Magbanua of the Regional Trial Courtroom (RTC) Department 61 in Kabankalan Metropolis, Negros Occidental discovered no ample proof towards Teves and his companions.
The Inquirer tried to get a press release from the Military to no avail.
Lawyer Rey Gorgonio, the counsel of the accused, was elated with the courtroom’s choice, saying his purchasers had been red-tagged and falsely accused by authorities.
“We sympathize with the households of those that died and had been injured within the encounter, however additionally it is improper to imprison those that had been harmless of the costs. It doesn’t end in justice however reasonably exacerbates injustice,” Gorgonio stated in a press release.
Apart from Teves, the opposite accused labored as farmers in Barangay Buenavista, Himamaylan, Gorgonio stated.
Teves testified that he’s a pastor of the UCCP and the opposite accused had been his church mates.
They’re additionally members of Tribu Ituman which is an Indigenous Folks’s group whose aim is to assist farmers.
“Church leaders expressed reduction over the acquittal, calling it a victory for reality and justice. The acquittal of Pastor Teves and firm is an answered prayer of the entire church,” the UCCP stated in a press release.
“It additionally serves as a testomony to the facility of neighborhood assist,” it added.
The UCCP has been vocal all through the trial, providing assist to the Himamaylan 7, denouncing what they described as a “miscarriage of justice.”
In its ruling launched on Monday, the courtroom thought of the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses as inadequate to show the guilt of the accused.
“A legal case rises and falls on the energy of the prosecution’s proof and never on the weak point of the protection,” Magbanua stated.
Whereas the prosecution might have efficiently established that every one the weather for the crime of homicide are current on this case, the courtroom stated it can not render a judgement establishing a discovering of guilt when the identification of the perpetrators within the crime is uncertain.
“The accused provided no different proof however the twin defenses of denial and alibi. They stated they had been getting ready for the elections on Might 14, 2018,” the decide famous.
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“However whereas denial and alibi are, certainly, inherently weak defenses, these can’t be merely rejected when the peculiar circumstances of their arrest and their out-of-court identification forged severe doubts on the reliability of the eyewitnesses’ testimonies,” he concluded.
