From the Philippine Daily Inquirer (Dec 19, 2021): 15 acquitted in Inopacan ‘traveling skeletons’ case (By: Dexter Cabalza)
A Manila court has junked multiple murder charges against several consultants to the aborted peace talks who were tagged as high-ranking officers of the Communist Party of the Philippines and accused of mass killings in Inopacan, Leyte province, in 2006, in what has been called the case of “traveling skeletons.”In its 97-page order dated Dec. 16 and made public on Saturday, the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 32 granted the demurrers to evidence separately filed by eight of the more than 30 accused, after finding that the prosecution failed to prove that they were involved in the killings.
Among those cleared of 15 counts of murder were former lawmaker Satur Ocampo; National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace consultants Rafael Baylosis, Adelberto Silva and Vicente Ladlad; former Mayor Exuperio Lloren of Jagna town, Bohol; and farmers Norberto Murillo, Dario Tomada and Oscar Belleza.
Also acquitted were peace consultants Benito and Wilma Tiamzon, Felomino Salazar, Presillano Beringel, Luzviminda Orillo, Muco Lubong and Felix Dumali.
The court ordered the release of all the accused currently in detention, unless they had arrest warrants for other charges.
The court earlier dropped from the list of accused NDFP consultants Bernabe Ocasla (who died while in detention in November 2016 at 66 years old); Randall Echanis, (who was killed in August last year at 72), and Jaime Soledad (who was set free in 2011 to continue the then-ongoing peace talks).
‘Contrarities, infirmities’
The cases were formerly heard by the RTC Branch 18 in Hilongos, Leyte. But the Supreme Court ordered them transferred to Manila in 2008 where they were raffled off to Manila RTC Branch 32.
In granting the demurrer, Judge Thelma Bunyi-Medina found “overwhelming contrarieties and infirmities in the testimonies of the prosecution’s witnesses.”
The prosecution presented 32 witnesses, including National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr., then chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, relatives of the 15 victims and individuals who claimed to be former members of the New People’s Army.
According to them, the 15 victims were among the hundreds summarily executed by the communist rebels as part of their efforts “to cleanse” their ranks of military infiltrators in “Operation Venereal Disease” in the 1980s.
Mass grave
A mass grave of the supposed victims was uncovered on Aug. 26 to Aug. 29, 2006, at Mt. Sapang Dako in Barangay Kaulisihan, Inopacan town.
According to the court, Dr. Mamerto Bernabe, the forensic pathologist from the Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory, admitted that he examined the skeletal remains found in the mass grave but “did not conclusively identify any of these bones as belonging to a particular person.”
It also noted that the prosecution was unable to prove through DNA tests that the skeletal remains belonged to any of the 15 victims.
The court also gave weight to the assertion of the defense lawyers that some of the skeletal remains in Inopacan were inexplicably found on June 27 to June 28, 2000, in mass graves at Barangay Monterico, Baybay town, also in Leyte province, about 10 kilometers away.
‘Impossible’
Among the supposed victims in the Baybay case were Concepcion Aragon, Juanita Aviola and Gregorio Eras, who were also said to be among the 15 victims buried in Inopacan.
The Baybay multiple murder case was dismissed by RTC Branch 18 in 2005.
“Of course, logic dictates that these eventualities cannot or are impossible to happen unless these skeletal remains, as conjured by the defense, were exhumed in one place and thereafter, transferred and/or buried in another,” the court said.
The prosecution did not present forensic evidence or other evidence, such as a death certificate or declaration of presumptive death, the court said.
‘Palpably unreliable’
It found that the testimonies of the witnesses were “palpably unreliable” due to “overwhelmingly numerous” contradictions.
The Public Interest Law Center (PILC), which represented some of the accused, welcomed the decision, saying the acquittals were an early Christmas gift.
“We are delighted that the court has well-taken our consistent position that these cases are trumped-up, arguably part of an elaborate ploy to vilify our clients,” the PILC said in a statement.
A mass grave of the supposed victims was uncovered on Aug. 26 to Aug. 29, 2006, at Mt. Sapang Dako in Barangay Kaulisihan, Inopacan town.
According to the court, Dr. Mamerto Bernabe, the forensic pathologist from the Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory, admitted that he examined the skeletal remains found in the mass grave but “did not conclusively identify any of these bones as belonging to a particular person.”
It also noted that the prosecution was unable to prove through DNA tests that the skeletal remains belonged to any of the 15 victims.
The court also gave weight to the assertion of the defense lawyers that some of the skeletal remains in Inopacan were inexplicably found on June 27 to June 28, 2000, in mass graves at Barangay Monterico, Baybay town, also in Leyte province, about 10 kilometers away.
‘Impossible’
Among the supposed victims in the Baybay case were Concepcion Aragon, Juanita Aviola and Gregorio Eras, who were also said to be among the 15 victims buried in Inopacan.
The Baybay multiple murder case was dismissed by RTC Branch 18 in 2005.
“Of course, logic dictates that these eventualities cannot or are impossible to happen unless these skeletal remains, as conjured by the defense, were exhumed in one place and thereafter, transferred and/or buried in another,” the court said.
The prosecution did not present forensic evidence or other evidence, such as a death certificate or declaration of presumptive death, the court said.
‘Palpably unreliable’
It found that the testimonies of the witnesses were “palpably unreliable” due to “overwhelmingly numerous” contradictions.
The Public Interest Law Center (PILC), which represented some of the accused, welcomed the decision, saying the acquittals were an early Christmas gift.
“We are delighted that the court has well-taken our consistent position that these cases are trumped-up, arguably part of an elaborate ploy to vilify our clients,” the PILC said in a statement.
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1529361/15-acquitted-in-inopacantraveling-skeletons-case
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