Antipolo prosecutors junks terrorism complaint vs 2 students

Antipolo City prosecutors have dismissed a complaint against two students who allegedly provided support to Hailey Pecayo, a 20-year old human rights worker who was accused of being a member of the New People’s Army (NPA).

In a nine-page resolution, the Antipolo prosecutors office dismissed the terrorism complaint against Jasmine Yvette Rubia and Kenneth Rementilla for lack of probable cause.

In 2022, a soldier accused the two students of giving support to Pecayo after they appeared together in the wake of Kyllene Casao, the nine-year-old child who died in a crossfire during an encounter between state forces and the NPA in July.

“While it may appear based on the documents submitted that the respondents indeed traveled with Hailey Pecayo in going to the wake of Kyllen Casao, there is no plausible evidence that they provided ‘material support’ to a terrorist,” the resolution said.

“Here the complaint did not provide any proof that the alleged ‘organized transportation’ was indeed organized and provided by the respondents personally themselves,” it added.

Further, the prosecutors said that even if Rubia and Rementilla provided transportation for Pecayo, this could not be said that the act is providing material support to a terrorist as going to a wake is not an act of terrorism.

“As mentioned above, the mere act of going to a wake is not in itself an act of terrorism. Now, aside from merely going to the wake, the complaint also failed to allege any other acts of the respondents as members of this QRT during the alleged incident which shows that they provided material support to Hailey Pecayo, knowing that such an individual is committing or planning to commit acts,” the resolution said.

Pecayo, others cleared

Meanwhile, prosecutors in Santa Rosa, Laguna cleared Pecayo and several others of terrorism, attempted murder and other related charges.

Santa Rosa prosecutors said they found no sufficient evidence to indict the respondents.

“In the case at hand, aside from ascribing the incident as one of ambush, the complainant and his witnesses failed to correctly identify the respondents in the above-captioned cases as perpetrators of the crimes,” it said.

The Laguna prosecutors stressed that the spot report described the respondents as an “undetermined group” with an “undetermined number.”

It added that the encounter happened in a forested area, where the witnesses were 10 to 15 meters away from the people shooting them.

Meanwhile, prosecutors said the affidavits of witnesses who claimed they were former CPP-NPA members and former comrades of the respondents “holds no water under the circumstances.”

“Too much emphasis on names was placed by the complainant and his witnesses in identifying the alleged wrongdoers in these cases. It is underscored that familiarity with the physical features, particularly those of the face, is actually the best way to identify the person,” the resolution read.

“Given the aforestated second and third reasons plus the fact that the incident happened during an ambush, familiarity with the faces of the malefactors is entirely nil,” it added.

Also dismissed in the terrorism complaint wereIsagani Isita, Junalice Arante-Isita, Mariano Bico, Roger Villaflores, Jordan Mopon, Gilbert Orr, Ernesto Baez Jr., Felimon Baez, Jimmy Banaag, Sonny Boy Banaag, and Alex Bannag.

It also dismissed the complaint for attempted murder against Isagani, Junalice, Ernesto, Felimon, Jimmy, Sonny Boy and Alex.

Meanwhile, the OCP also dismissed the complaint against Isgani, Junalice, Bico, Villaflores, Mpon, Orr, Ernesto, Felimon, Jummy, Sonny Boy, and Alex for violation of the Philippine Act on Crimes against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and other crimes against Humanity.—RF, GMA Integrated News