EIGHT men jailed for the 2008 kidnapping-for-ransom of a Philippine National Bank executive in Quezon City on Tuesday were found guilty beyond reasonable doubt by a Q.C. court and were sentenced to life in prison without eligibility for parole.

The accused were also ordered by Judge Evangeline C. Castillo-Marigomen of the Q.C. Regional Trial Court Branch 101 to pay a total of P450,000 in civil, moral, and exemplary damages to victim Ramon B. Murillo who was then 62 years old when abducted.

The amounts shall accrue interest at the rate of six percent per annum from the date of the finality of the decision until fully paid, the judge said.

Convicted were Florentino F. Amolo, Arnold B. Aquino, Reggie P. Reyes. Edgardo M. Hernandez, Melchor V. Herrera, Niño L. Carangan, Reynante A. Alcazar and Jocelyn P. Ferolino.

The verdict was lauded by the Movement for Restoration of Peace and Order which also cited the role played by the Department of Justice Anti-Kidnapping Task Force and the men and women of the defunct Police Anti-Crime and Emergency Response, now known as the Philippine Anti-Kidnapping Group who arrested the suspects.

Solid testimonies given by officers from the defunct PACER and later the PNP-AKG now headed by Colonel Elmer E. Ragay plus the strong will and resolve of the DOJ Task Force Anti-Kidnapping led to another successful prosecution of captured kidnappers, the Journal Group learned.

DOJ Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Olivia L. Torrevillas said they were ‘very happy that justice was finally served’ to the Murillos after nearly 17 years.

The DOJ prosecutor also said that a Manila court also sentenced to reclusion perpetua all the accused in the killing of a Korean national named Jee Won Lee on the same day. The suspects who were charged with kidnapping-for-ransom with homicide were found guilty beyond reasonable doubt by the Manila RTC Branch 47.

The MRPO was also cited for continuing to provide support to kidnapping victims who have agreed to ‘show their faces’ in order to seek the conviction of their abductors.

Court records showed that Murillo was driving his car along Quezon Avenue in Q.C. when Perolino, then a ‘bar entertainer’ appeared and asked him to give her a ride towards a nearby Burger King branch around 11:30 p.m. of June 3, 2008.

However, when they reached the place, a man suddenly appeared and immediately broke the window glass at the driver’s seat and opened the door.

The man later pushed Murillo to the other side so he could enter before three of his cohorts simultaneously entered the back of the car and pulled the victim towards them.

The first kidnapper then drove Murillo’s car towards Manila. The kidnappers brought the victim to different places before negotiating ransom with the latter’s family.

They initially sought a P15 million ransom from the Murillo family but after a series of negotiations reduced it to P1 million.

Murillo’s wife Avelina personally delivered the ransom money to the kidnappers who later released the victim unharmed after holding him captive for three days.

PACER operatives then under Colonel Leonardo A. Espina — he later rose to become a Police Lieutenant General and Officer-in-Charge of the PNP – launched a series of follow-up operations which led to the filing of criminal charges for kidnapping-for-ransom and illegal possession of firearms against nine accused.

They were arrested in a series of operations in Metro Manila and Central Luzon which lasted for three days.

Then PNP chief General Avelino I. Razon Jr. described the captured kidnappers as members of the Amolo Group engaged in kidnapping-for-ransom and robbery-holdup in Metro Manila and the provinces of Cavite, Bulacan, and Nueva Ecija.

The accused were also tagged as responsible for the kidnapping-slay of one Korean businessman identified as Chan Kil An in Cavite in the same year.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Alfred P. Dalizon