John dela Riarte allegedly tried to grab the gun of the police officers who arrested him: PO2 Jonjie Manon-og (top, left) and PO3 Jeremiah de Villa. 鈥擯hoto from John dela Riarte鈥檚 Facebook page
One of the two police officers charged with killing a motorcycle rider whom they arrested on Edsa in 2016 has been found guilty of the less serious crime of homicide.
According to presiding Judge Carlito Calpatura of the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 145, the prosecution failed to establish that PO2 Jonjie Manon-og killed 26-year-old John dela Riarte with evident premeditation and treachery.
鈥淸The] dearth in the prosecution鈥檚 evidence impels this court to downgrade the nature of the offense committed from murder to homicide,鈥� he said in his 66-page decision dated Jan. 30.
Calpatura noted that the prosecution had failed to indicate in the charge sheet that Dela Riarte was handcuffed when he was shot.
This left him defenseless, a circumstance that may qualify for both evident premeditation and treachery, he said.
Road rage incident
On July 29, 2016, Dela Riarte was accosted by Manon-og and PO3 Jeremiah de Villa, both members of the Philippine National Police鈥檚 Highway Patrol Group (HPG), on Edsa in Makati City, after he figured in an altercation with another driver.
After being placed under arrest, Dela Riarte rode in the police officers鈥檚 patrol car where he allegedly tried to grab one of their firearms.
He was shot in the body five times, resulting in his death.
INQUIRER PHOTO
On Aug. 28, 2016, De Villa fell to his death at Camp Crame in Quezon City where he was under restrictive custody.
Calpatura ruled that 鈥淸Riarte鈥檚 killing was intentional as established by the evidence.鈥�
He noted the findings of the autopsy which stated that three of the five gunshot wounds (left upper chest, right lower chest and right pelvic areas) 鈥渋ndicated the intent of the shooter to kill rather than disable the victim.鈥�
However, while alleged in the charge sheet, none of the prosecution witnesses testified that Manon-og took advantage of his position as a police officer in killing the victim.
The qualifying circumstances of abuse of 鈥渟uperior strength鈥� and 鈥渟uperiority in number鈥� were thus not proven by the prosecution.
鈥淭here was no account on how they attacked the victim. Neither was there any evidence to the effect that they cooperated in such a way to secure advantage of their combined strength to perpetrate the crime with impunity,鈥� Calpatura noted.
Lower jail term
The judge sentenced Manon-og to a jail term of eight years to 12 years and one day 鈥� lower than the usual 12 to 20 years imprisonment 鈥� as he had voluntarily surrendered.
He was ordered to pay the family of Dela Riarte P3.2 million to cover his lost earnings as a driver and P189,150 as civil
indemnity.
In addition, Manon-og was also told to pay the victim鈥檚 family P100,000 in moral and actual damages, with a six-percent interest per annum until the amount is paid in full.