CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – The sister of a publisher, who was killed in Aurora in 2005, has appealed to the Department of Justice to reopen the murder case because it has remained archived since January although the police had arrested one of the suspects last May.
Nenita Mendoza sounded off the appeal on Tuesday, saying her brother, Philip Agustin, also publisher and editor of Starline Times Recorder, deserves justice.
“It’s near [international] human rights’ day and it’s the Christmas season. I wish the Christmas gift we get is justice,” Mendoza said by phone from Bataan.
She also asked media institutions to help and pick up from where the National Press Club has left off. She said the case has dragged for five years, leaving her with very little money to file a petition for the case’s reopening.
Nestor Lazaro, the prosecutor in the case, did not reply to queries on the status of the case.
Per the monitoring of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, the case has been archived in the Regional Trial Court’s Branch 6 in Manila in January because two of the suspects remained at-large and cannot be tried in court.
CMFR said the suspected mastermind, former Dingalan Mayor Jaime Ylarde, was dropped from the case and freed from jail after Agustin’s daughter, Rosebelle Cruz, withdrew her complaint and entered into a settlement. Cruz could not be reached for comments.
According to the CMFR, the police had turned over one of the suspects, Nilo “Boyet” Morete, to the court following his arrest in Mabalacat Pampanga last May.
By law, an archived case means that it is still pending, not yet dismissed and can be reopened through a petition to the DOJ. The settlement entered by Cruz may have only settled the civil aspect but not the criminal part of the case. In the Philippines, murder is a crime against the state.
Agustin was shot dead in his daughter’s home on May 10, 2005 hours after he delivered the May 2-8 special edition of his weekly paper. It featured stories on alleged corruption by Ylarde on funds intended for the victims of the landslides that killed some 700 people in Dingalan in November to December 2004.
Mendoza believed that the case is strong against Ylarde, Morete and the second suspected gunman, Manuel Alday.
“I was shocked with the way the case has ended. There are strong evidence to pursue it,” she said. Ylarde was initially dropped from the case but was charged in May 2006 after Cruz asked then Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez to have the case reviewed. Ylarde entered a not-guilty plea. In July 2006, the Supreme Court approved the transfer of the case from an RTC in Baler, Aurora to the RTC in Manila. This was made on the request of Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuño who complained of bias by the previous judge. Ylarde has not filed his certificate of candidacy, quashing reports of his reelection bid. He maintained innocence although witnesses among local officials presented proof that Nilo Morete and Alday were employees in the ex-mayor’s office.
Reynaldo Morete, a third suspect who has turned state witness, is variously reported as dead or in hiding.
Nenita Mendoza sounded off the appeal on Tuesday, saying her brother, Philip Agustin, also publisher and editor of Starline Times Recorder, deserves justice.
“It’s near [international] human rights’ day and it’s the Christmas season. I wish the Christmas gift we get is justice,” Mendoza said by phone from Bataan.
She also asked media institutions to help and pick up from where the National Press Club has left off. She said the case has dragged for five years, leaving her with very little money to file a petition for the case’s reopening.
Nestor Lazaro, the prosecutor in the case, did not reply to queries on the status of the case.
Per the monitoring of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, the case has been archived in the Regional Trial Court’s Branch 6 in Manila in January because two of the suspects remained at-large and cannot be tried in court.
CMFR said the suspected mastermind, former Dingalan Mayor Jaime Ylarde, was dropped from the case and freed from jail after Agustin’s daughter, Rosebelle Cruz, withdrew her complaint and entered into a settlement. Cruz could not be reached for comments.
According to the CMFR, the police had turned over one of the suspects, Nilo “Boyet” Morete, to the court following his arrest in Mabalacat Pampanga last May.
By law, an archived case means that it is still pending, not yet dismissed and can be reopened through a petition to the DOJ. The settlement entered by Cruz may have only settled the civil aspect but not the criminal part of the case. In the Philippines, murder is a crime against the state.
Agustin was shot dead in his daughter’s home on May 10, 2005 hours after he delivered the May 2-8 special edition of his weekly paper. It featured stories on alleged corruption by Ylarde on funds intended for the victims of the landslides that killed some 700 people in Dingalan in November to December 2004.
Mendoza believed that the case is strong against Ylarde, Morete and the second suspected gunman, Manuel Alday.
“I was shocked with the way the case has ended. There are strong evidence to pursue it,” she said. Ylarde was initially dropped from the case but was charged in May 2006 after Cruz asked then Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez to have the case reviewed. Ylarde entered a not-guilty plea. In July 2006, the Supreme Court approved the transfer of the case from an RTC in Baler, Aurora to the RTC in Manila. This was made on the request of Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuño who complained of bias by the previous judge. Ylarde has not filed his certificate of candidacy, quashing reports of his reelection bid. He maintained innocence although witnesses among local officials presented proof that Nilo Morete and Alday were employees in the ex-mayor’s office.
Reynaldo Morete, a third suspect who has turned state witness, is variously reported as dead or in hiding.
