A MANILA regional trial court has affirmed the dismissal in December 2021 of the multiple murder charges against alleged CPP-NPA leader Benito and Wilma Tiamzon, former Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Satur Ocampo and National Democratic Front peace consultants Rafael Baylosis, Vicente Ladlad, Adelberto Silva and several others in connection with the mass graves discovered in 2006 in Inopacan, Leyte by the military.
Manila RTC Branch 42 Judge Dinnah Aguila-Topacio stood by the ruling of Branch 32 Judge Thelma Bunyi-Medina, who inhibited from the case in January after National Security Adviser and Anti-Terrorism Council vice chair Hermogenes Esperon sought her removal from the case.
“The People’s motion for reconsideration is denied for lack of merit. The order dated 16 December 2021, including its fallo, stands in toto,” Aguila-Topacio said in her ruling dated April 18.
In dismissing the appeal, the court has ruled that the prosecution failed to prove the crime of multiple murder because of doubts on the identities of the exhumed remains in Inopacan.
It said that aside from the loss of physical features of the bodies due to decay, the contamination of evidence may also have resulted from the exhumation by untrained civilians.
“As elucidated in the assailed order, when it comes to the remains exhumed from mass graves there are grave doubts engendered by the failure of the People to definitely establish the said remains as those alleged in the information to have been murdered,” the ruling said.
The court also said the prosecution witnesses relied on indicators such as the clothing worn by the skeletal remains recovered in the mass graves, “which is unreliable and prone to error” since it is common knowledge that fabric deteriorates over time when buried.
The court also took to task the prosecution for its failure to conduct DNA testing to identify the victims, adding it could have “saved the day” for their case.
“Unfortunately for the People, the procedure was not performed by the authorities notwithstanding that DNA samples were taken from relatives of the supposed victims for matching with the DNA of the carcasses of the deceased. This leaves the victims unidentified,” the court said.
