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MANILA, Philippines — A local court has denied bail to three police officers accused of the 2020 killing of Spanish businessman Diego Bello Lafuente.
In an order dated May 27, the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 1 rejected the bail petitions of Police Captain Wise Vicente Panuelos, Police Staff Sergeant Ronel Pazo and Police Staff Sergeant Nido Boy Cortes.
The court said the evidence against the accused is strong.
“All told, the prosecution was able to prove that evidence of guilt against all accused is strong. At this point, the defense that Lafuente fired at the accused in the course of a buy-bust operation and that the latter retaliated to secure their safety remains a mere version of the accused,” the decision read.
On March 17, 2022, charges of murder under the Revised Penal Code and planting of evidence under Republic Act No. 10591 were filed against Pazo, Cortes, and Panuelos at the Regional Trial Court of Surigao del Norte, Branch 31.
The same court received a return of warrant of arrest on February 6, 2023, from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, indicating that the three individuals had voluntarily surrendered to their unit.
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Subsequently, during their arraignment on March 1, 2023, all three pleaded not guilty to the charges. The three then filed their respective motions for bail in October 2023, arguing that the evidence of guilt against them was not strong.
What happened before. Lafuente, a foreigner casualty of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war, was accused of involvement in the illegal drug trade — a claim that was denied by his family and friends.
The businessman died in Siargao in 2020 during a drug war operation, which police described as a shootout.
Court’s ruling. Contrary to their claim, the court found that the evidence against the three officers was strong.
According to the court, all accused admitted in their affidavits that they were present at the crime scene and actively participated in the buy-bust operation against Lafuente, playing specific roles.
Also, the police officers’ claim that Lafuente died in an armed encounter was contradicted by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
“Testimonial and forensic evidence proved that the death of Lafuente did not result from an armed encounter, despite the established fact that Lafuente's hand and .45 caliber that he supposedly fired both tested positive for gunpowder nitrates,” the court’s ruling read.
The court gave credence to the NBI's findings, which were based on a collective investigation including the Philippine National Police-SOCO (Scene of the Crime Operatives) and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.
NBI investigators even re-enacted the incident, considering the accused's narratives. However, when correlated with affidavits from other witnesses and forensic evidence, the court said that there was no shootout scenario.
“When correlated with the affidavits of other witnesses, particularly Antipasado and Palomar and forensic evidence such as the triangular formation of the three (3) pieces of the .45 caliber pistol together with the six (6) pieces of the fired cartridge from 9mm caliber from the firearms of PCpt. Panuelos and PSSg Cortez, it was concluded that there was no 'firefight' scenario,” the court’s decision read.
The court also found strong evidence of conspiracy among the accused, even for Pazo, despite no fired cartridges being recovered from his issued firearm.
“The court likewise finds his guilt strong as the prosecution was able to prove "conspiracy" among the accused. PSSg. Pazo was not only in the crime scene, as he himself admitted. His paraffin test likewise yielded positive result,” the court’s ruling read.
RELATED: 3 cops indicted for murder in alleged Siargao buy-bust where Spanish national was killed
