A member of the New People’s Army (NPA) who was wounded in a
2012 encounter with the Philippine Army in Virac and later captured has been
sentenced to imprisonment for the crime of rebellion.
The Regional Trial Court sentenced Orlan “Ka Junie” Nuquiao
Nogas, a native of Cawayan, Masbate, to imprisonment ranging from eight years
and one day as minimum to 14 years, eight months and one day as maximum.
“The totality of the evidence presented by the prosecution,
uncontroverted by the accused who opted not to testify on his behalf, and the
doctrinal rulings of the Supreme Court proved beyond reasonable doubt that the
accused committed the crime of rebellion…xxx,” RTC Branch 42 Acting Presiding
Judge Lelu P. Contreras said in her 15-page decision rendered last March 3.
Information filed before the Court as well as accounts of
the encounter state that on Dec. 1, 2012, the 83rd Infantry Battalion received
information from a concerned citizen that “local communist terrorists” led by a
certain Jimboy “Ka Jason/Ka Hogan” Lucero, also known as Emerson Capistrano,
was conducting extortion activity in the vicinity of Calatagan-Tibang. Elements
of the 91st Division Reconnaissance Company led by 1Lt. Evar Louie Magamay were
sent to the area to conduct combat operations in the mountainous area just past
the Cauayan watershed and reachable only by a two-hour hike.
At 1:30 P.M., the team maneuvered in a skirmish position
near an area where they had heard several persons enjoying each other and saw
persons armed with long firearms. The Army scout was seen by one of the rebels
and a 10-minute firefight ensued with the 15 guerillas in which two were killed
outright.
Sixteen-year old Ronald “Ka Brian” Satairapan was rendered
unrecognizable by gunshot in the face while Lucero’s wife, Liezel “Ka
Arlene/Ching” Isorena of Porot, Pandan, was shot in the chest. The badly
decomposed body of fellow Masbateño, whom Nogas knew only as Lito, was
recovered by pursuing Army soldiers two days later.
The encounter also led to the recovery of an M653 Baby
Armalite, two M16 rifles, an M14 rifle, three improvised explosive devices
(IEDs) with detonating cord, 40 blasting caps, seven cellphones, M16 ammo,
three jungle packs, six ponchos, two hammocks, five blankets, 20 batteries,
food and personal items.
On Dec. 15, 2012, a civilian informant told the Army that a
wounded rebel was hiding in the mountains of Dugui Too, about 18 kilometers
from the town proper. Later that day, government troops captured Nogas at an
abaca plantation just above a hut (tugod) owned by barangay captain Leo Teleb
where the wounded rebel had sought shelter. Nogas was nursing bullet wounds on
his right hand and left ankle, and was treated initially by a medic before being
brought to a hospital.
During the trial of the case, the defense presented only one
witness, Nogas’ mother Magdalena , who told the
Court that sometime in September 2012, Orlan asked permission from her to go
with his friends to look for a job. She said there was no communication between
them as she had no cellphone. It was in December 2012 that they learned that he
was already in jail in Virac. When she and her husband visited their son in
detention, he told them he was engaged in small-scale mining in Catanduanes
before he was charged with rebellion.
Instead of presenting the accused to testify, his counsel
argued that the prosecution’s evidence did not prove beyond doubt the elements
of the crime and that the accused was a CPP/NDF/NPA member. The counsel also
questioned the legality of the warrantless arrest made 14 days after the
“alleged encounter”, with the accused not doing any crime and not in possession
of any firearms or subversive materials.
In finding no merit in the contention of the accused, Judge
Contreras expressed surprise that the legality of the arrest was being
questioned when this was never brought out from the time Nogas was arraigned
until the presentation of evidence. She cited Supreme Court rulings stating the
accused is estopped from assailing the legality of his arrest if he failed to
raise such defense before arraignment.
The Court noted that Nogas admitted to the doctor treating
him that he sustained his wounds from the encounter with the military. It
likewise quoted SC rulings on the communist rebellion and subversion as
continuing offense.
Nogas’ capture in a hut 14 days after the encounter, it
stressed, is akin to that of an accused guerilla who the Supreme Court said
“did not cease to be or became less of a subversive, for purposes of arrest,
simply because he was, at the time of arrest,” confined in a hospital.
Tribune files show that Nogas was recruited in Masbate by a certain Ka Pinoy and was met by his unit
commander at San Andres port. The fourth son of six children in the Nogas
family, he was with the Lucero group operating in Virac, San Andres, San Miguel
and Bato when they had an initial encounter with government troops in Dugui Too
on Nov. 25, after which their group of eight guerillas hiked to the Calatagan
Tibang area. Nogas was scheduled to return home for Christmas but the Dec. 1,
2012 Cauayan clash changed his plans. Eight other alleged NPA rebels are said
to be facing rebellion cases in court.
http://www.catanduanestribune.com/article/3XW8
