A COURT in Aparri, Cagayan province has cleared 70-year-old activist and indigenous people’s rights advocate Myrna Cruz-Abraham of charges of frustrated murder filed by authorities.
Cruz-Abraham was among 18 individuals charged for alleged involvement in the ambush of barangay captain Ernesto Belen in 2007 in the province. She pleaded not guilty during her arraignment in February this year, a month after she was arrested in San Rafael, Bulacan.
The PNP has tagged her as a member of the Communist Party of the Philippines.
Branch 9 of the Aparri, Cagayan Regional Trial Court, in a decision dated August 4, granted Cruz-Abraham’s demurrer to evidence, saying the prosecution failed to prove her guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
Granting a demurrer to evidence is tantamount to a dismissal of the case due to failure of the prosecution to prove that the evidence is strong to warrant a conviction.
“Has the prosecution successfully discharged its burden of proving the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt? The answer is in the negative. The testimonial and documentary evidence adduced by the prosecution fall short of that quantum of evidence required therefor,” Branch 9 Presiding Judge Conrado Tabaco said in his decision.
“The very testimonies in open court of Mr. Belen and Mr. Cabacungan, devoid of any indication of accused’s participation in the alleged March 6, 2007 incident or even in the alleged January 15, 2007 planning negate her liability and more so of her identity as perpetrator of the instant charge as the said witnesses themselves denied either knowing the accused or having supplied her name as one of the perpetrators of the alleged crime committed against Belen,” it added.
The court also ordered that the P200,000 bail bond posted by Cruz-Abraham be cancelled and returned to her.
As to her co-accused who remain at-large, the court directed that the case against them be archived “without prejudice to its reinstatement upon their arrest.
“Let an alias warrant of arrest be issued against Jonathan Sandagan, Julius Geron, Lolito Raza, Elizabeth Principe, and Victorio Tesorio,” the court said.
Human rights group Karapatan earlier said Cruz-Abraham is the first political prisoner recorded this year and the 155th under the Marcos regime.
It said there are at least 763 political prisoners nationwide.
