Former Batangas Gov. Leviste convicted on homicide raps

The conviction of former Batangas Governor Antonio Leviste on homicide charges comes just a few weeks after Mayor Nasser Pangandaman Jr. et al were charged by Delfin Dela Paz et al for the mauling incident at the Valley Golf and Country Club.

There is no real relation between the two stories except that both involve local government executives who figured in a violent incident and both claimed that they were defending themselves.

The verdict handed down today by Judge Elmo Alameda of Branch 50 of the Makati City regional trial court meted Leviste with a jail term of from 6 to 12 years and ordered him to pay P100,000 in damages. The former Batangas Governor claimed that he killed his aide Rafael Delas Alas in self-defense during an argument on Jan. 12, 2007, at his office at the LPL Tower in Legaspi Village, Makati City.

He could have gone scot-free on the grounds of self-defense, except for the fact that one bullet would have been enough to stop an attack and he shot his former aide five times. Another point which made the self-defense a bit harder to buy into was that it was not proven that Leviste's aide had fired a gun at him.

The gun purportedly used by Delas Alas was never submitted for ballistics examination, nor was the victim subjected to a paraffin test to prove that he had fired back.

More to the point, photos of Delas Alas body showed that he was sitting behind a desk. Forensic evidence is silent on whether he was shot while he was seated behind his desk or if his attacker was standing up.

What was the trajectory of the bullet? How far away from the victim was the attacker? The answers are simply missing.

The decision on Leviste's case will not have any bearing on the case lodged against Mayor Nasser Pangandaman, who like the Leviste claims self-defense. But then again, the decision on Leviste somehow illustrates what self-defense is and is not.

Shooting a man five times is not self-defense, especially if the one claiming self-defense cannot prove that he was being attacked.

Parrying or blocking a blow from someone wielding a golf umbrella is self-defense. Six men beating up one old man is not self-defense, it is an act of revenge.

Anyway, as a result of the verdict, Leviste will be taken to the Makati City Jail -- having been out on bail during the whole time that the case against him was being heard. His lawyer has appealed for a 15 day extension of his bail, citing humanitarian grounds.

In contrast, truck and bus drivers who kill people due to reckless imprudence often have to stay in jail while their cases are being heard because they don't have money hire a good lawyer and post bail.

Leviste has little to fear about going to the Makati City Jail. It is perhaps a relatively cleaner prison compared to the notorious New Bilibid Prison. Certainly, a rich and influential man like Leviste will be able to pay for a lot of privileges that ordinary prisoners do not have.

Perhaps Congressman Romeo Jalosjos, Mayor Antonio Sanchez, and Claudio Teehankee Jr. can give Leviste a couple of insider tips. Maybe, even former President Joseph Estrada (who was convicted of plunder) can tell Leviste how to get a Presidential pardon.

As long as we are talking about politics, let me mention that when news about Leviste shooting Delas Alas broke out, one of the first people asked to comment on the incident was Senator Loren Legarda -- who was then running for Senator after her failed attempt at the Vice Presidency in 2004.

I don't remember if I heard Legarda speaking on a live interview on AM radio, but I remember her presaging her comment with an admission that she had been estranged from Leviste for quite some time -- distancing herself from her husband who was also her major political and financial benefactor.

Perhaps it was sound judgement, from a political standpoint. Perhaps her heart bled and her eyes teared up just like St. Peter when he realized that he had denied Jesus Christ three times. Who knows?

Valley Golf expels Dela Paz, bans Mayor Nasser for life

I kinda like it when people take the time and effort to leave a comment on my blog. It makes me feel all warm and tingly, somewhat.

For example, here's one from blogsurdities on "Golf justice: Dela Paz expelled from Valley Golf C...":

That is NOT a fair decision! What is wong with the sense of justice of the Philippine courts? My, my, my being a small town mayor really gives you a lot of "rights" to bamboozle other folks? And the same guy who acts like a uncivil barbarian at a country club wanted to control blogger's rights to blog? Is he crazy or simply a moron?

Dear blogsurdities,

The decision to expel of Delfin Dela Paz and ban for life Mayor Nasser Pangandaman Jr. from the Valley Golf Country Club (VGCC) was not an act of our court system.

I think that the decision was done in favor of all the other VGCC members who do not like other members and their guests brawling on the greens.

However, while the decision seems laudable and even Solomonic, for its fairness you'd have to agree that this doesn't really do much. After all, the damage has already been done and people will remember the incident as a turning point when a golf course turned into a boxing ring or biker bar.

I wonder if they'll feature mud wrestling on the banks of their water hazards?

If the VGCC had been on their toes the whole time, the Valley Golf Brawl shouldn't have happened.

Firmness when it comes to club rules would have prevented the Dela Paz's from putting off with just two people in their flight instead of the required four. Discrete security personnel a.k.a. bouncers at the teehouse between Holes 4 and 5 could have kept Dela Paz from getting himself beaten up.

In any case, Mayor Nasser and Delfin Dela Paz are both welcome to play jolens in my back yard. I'll even have Secretary Neri and former Comelec Chairman Abalos serve chinese ham-boor-jers a.k.a. thick slices of Ma-Ling between cuts of silver bread rolls.

Pangandaman-Dela Paz open to settlement

This is just so STUPID and just reinforces what I had said at the beginning, dapat pag-untugin na lang ang mga ulo ni Delfin at Mayor Nasser Jr.

In the Philippine Star today:

As charges filed, parties in golf brawl open to settlement
By Non Alquitran Updated January 06, 2009 12:00 AM

The camps of Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman Sr. and businessman Delfin de la Paz did not rule out yesterday an out-of-court settlement of the charges they filed against each other as a result of the brawl at a golf course in Antipolo City last Dec. 26.

But the problem is who would make the first move.

De la Paz’s lawyer Raymond Fortun and Ted Pastrana, counsel of Pangandaman, claimed that their clients are open to an amicable settlement, considering that the cases have not yet been formally filed in court.

Fortun claimed that aside from a text message purportedly coming from Pangandaman’s relative, they have not received any communication from the agrarian reform secretary’s camp to start negotiations for an out-of-court settlement.

Pastrana countered that it was his clients who are the aggrieved party and they would not wish to make the first move to patch up the petty quarrel with the De la Paz family.

De la Paz, 56, and his son Bino Lorenzo, 14, filed two counts of slight physical injuries and three counts of child abuse charges against Secretary Pangandaman’s sons Mayor Nasser Pangandaman Jr., 27, of Masiu, Lanao del Sur and his brother Muhammed Hussein before the Antipolo City prosecutor’s office at about 8:50 a.m.

De la Paz’s daughter and star witness Marie Dhel or Bambee, 18, accompanied the complainants.

Pastrana and the Pangandaman brothers appeared at the same prosecutor’s office two hours later to file physical injuries charges against De la Paz and Bino.

They also filed an additional grave coercion and light threats charge against Delfin, Bino, Bambee, and Bruce de la Paz, who arrived at the golf course armed with a baseball bat, and Mrs. Maridel de la Paz, who was armed with a bladed weapon.

The Pangandamans also brought along golf caddies Renato Legaspi, Ferdy de la Torre and Santos Estrera, who testified that the elder De la Paz started the fight.

The two camps assigned their respective lawyers to speak on their behalf regarding the case.

Fortun said the De la Paz family also plans to file administrative charges against the agrarian reform secretary and Mayor Pangandaman before the Ombudsman on Wednesday.

He said they would seek a preventive suspension against the two government officials.

In their complaint, De la Paz narrated that the mauling incident was triggered by the Pangandamans when they overtook their flight during a golf game at the Valley Golf and Country Club in Antipolo City.

Bino said the Pangandamans ganged up on him and his father, despite his and Bambee’s repeated pleadings.

The mauling incident happened at the tee house of the 5th hole and at the clubhouse.

Fortun said they would file an administrative complaint against the elder Pangandaman because he appeared to have uttered statements that inflamed his son in beating up his clients.

The Pangandamans, however, claimed that the elder De la Paz started the quarrel.

Caddies Legaspi, De la Torre and Estrera claimed the Pangandamans hired their services for two flights.

The first flight was composed of the elder Pangandaman, Rene Maglanque, Arnel Estacio and Faisal Abdulah, while in the second flight were Hussein, Nasser Jr., Farrah Locsin and Adnan Pacasum.

Legaspi is the caddy of Maglanque, De la Torre of Hussein and Estrera of Locsin.

Estrera said Nasser Jr. and Locsin arrived late and together with him and another caddy, Jaime Jocar Jr., they rode two golf carts to catch up with their flightmates.

Estrera admitted they overtook the De la Pazes in the process, which angered Delfin, who later confronted the Pangandamans.

Nasser Jr. said it appeared that the De la Pazes resented what “he wrongly perceived as overtaking.”

While Nasser Jr. was still outside the green of Hole No. 4, the flight of the De la Pazes hit their shots into the green without shouting “fore.”

To shield Angelo, Hussein’s eight-year-old son, from being hit by the balls, Nasser said his caddy took him behind one of the golf carts.

After they finished Hole No. 5, the Pangandamans joined their father’s flight at the tee house for snacks.

At this juncture, the elder De la Paz approached Nasser Jr. and once again shouted that what they did was wrong.

“To mollify him, I told him (Delfin) that we would not mind if their flight go ahead of us while we were still taking our snacks,” said Nasser Jr. in his affidavit.

Nasser Jr. said the elder De la Paz thrust his closed golf umbrella at his direction, prompting him to parry it with his elbow. And almost instantaneously, he punched the elder De la Paz in self-defense.

The three caddies corroborated Nasser Jr.’s statement that the umbrella incident started the fight.

The young mayor said Bino and Bambee rushed to aid their father.

Hussein came to Nasser Jr.’s side and grabbed the umbrella from the elder De la Paz, who punched him in the process. Hussein hit back and the two were soon engaged in a fistfight.

Nasser Jr. admitted that his brother got the upper hand and De la Paz fell down. Bino threw punches at Hussein’s face while Bambee crept up from behind and kept on wildly scratching his brother’s face.

“Bino then got a golf club which he used to hit me on the hand. I retaliated, punching him I think on the face,” said Nasser Jr.

He said it was Maglanque who intervened and broke up the fight.

While the situation had seemingly settled down, the elder Pangandaman decided it would be safer for their group to discontinue playing to prevent further untoward incident.

However, while at the clubhouse, they had a chance meeting with the De la Pazes and they quarreled again.

Mrs. De la Paz and her son Bruce, armed with a bladed weapon and a baseball bat respectively, arrived later but were prevented by the club’s security guard from joining the fight.

The De la Pazes submitted as evidence medical certificates issued by the Antipolo Community Hospital and the Manila East Medical Center and photocopies of Bino’s head and ear injuries.

The Pangandamans submitted photocopies of the police blotter, medical certificates from the Capitol Medical Center and East Avenue Medical Center of the injuries of Mayor Pangandaman.

Fortun said his clients are open for any out of court settlement of the case, as he pointed out that “money is not the prime issue here.”

“If their offer of an amicable settlement is sincere, then we would entertain them,” said Fortun, adding, “I do hope that cooler heads intervene to settle this case.”

Fortun said they would wait for the Pangandamans or their emissary to contact them.

He said he could not fathom how the elder Pangandaman could accuse his 56-year-old and 14-year-old clients of being the aggressors of the fight.

“Let them make the first move,” Fortun said.

Pastrana said his clients would welcome negotiations for an amicable settlement.

“It was established that the De la Pazes started the fisticuffs and we are the aggrieved party so we should not make the first move,” said Pastrana with regard to Fortun’s challenge.

“This incident was blown out of proportion, considering that my clients are public officials.”

The lawyer said his clients have been demonized because of the “black propaganda” waged by the De la Pazes, especially through blogs circulated on the Internet. “All of this happened obviously on the instigation of the elder De la Paz,” he said.

But one of the prosecutors in Antipolo City pointed out that it would now be difficult for both parties to arrive at an amicable settlement because of the Department of Justice Circular 59 of Sept. 9, 2002 involving child abuse cases.

The circular calls for the continuation of the cases in court even if the complainants submitted an affidavit of desistance.

“The physical injuries charges can be dropped easily but not the child abuse cases because of the DOJ circular,” the prosecutor told reporters.

With regard to Fortun’s plan of seeking the suspension of the elder Pangandaman and the Masiu mayor before the Ombudsman, Pastrana said the administrative case is unrelated to the brawl.

NBI invites Sec Pangandaman

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has invited Secretary Pangandaman and Nasser Jr., for questioning.

NBI-National Capital Region (NCR) Director Edward Villarta said they expect the Pangandamans to appear today to give a statement “to give their side of the story.”

He said no subpoena was sent but only a letter of invitation. A lawyer could accompany the Pangandamans.

Villarta said they have formed a fact-finding team composed of NCR agents to investigate allegations that the Pangandamans beat up the De la Pazes.

He said the De la Pazes have already submitted a statement to the NBI.

He said NBI agents have also interviewed witnesses, including the two caddies of the De la Pazes and four caddies of the Pangandamans.

The NBI agents also interviewed three waitresses and a manager of the clubhouse where the alleged mauling occurred.

The interviews with the witnesses were conducted last December at the clubhouse of the Valley Golf and Country Club in Antipolo City.

Meanwhile, Malacañang continued its defense of Secretary Pangandaman in connection with his involvement in te golf course altercation.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo said that an investigation is already underway regarding the incident and that pending the results of this probe, Pangandaman would remain at his post.

Fajardo said Pangandaman has given his side of the incident, which refuted the allegations made by the De la Pazes.

“There’s an ongoing investigation at the Department of Justice regarding that and if I’m not mistaken, he was not included in the case filed by De la Paz this morning,” Fajardo said.

Fajardo said the executive branch would make a decision over Pangandaman’s case after the investigation is completed.

“I think it will be early as of now to grant that preventive suspension. Let’s wait for the result of the initial investigation before we can act on it,” she said.

Presidential Management Staff director general Cerge Remonde said that Pangandaman should be presumed innocent until proven guilty. – With Sandy Araneta, Marvin Sy