By Jeffrey Damicog

The Court of Appeals (CA) has upheld the decision of the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) to turn the three accused in the attempted killing in 2012 of former National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Reynaldo Esmeralda and his brother as state witnesses against the suspect businessman Tyrone Ong. In a 20-page decision, the CA First Division denied the petition filed by Ong who sought to prevent his three co-accused from becoming state witnesses. The three co-accused are retired policeman Perfecto Villanueva, Ramoso Ramos and Alfredo Compoc. Court of Appeals
(Credits: KJ Rosales | Manila Bulletin file photo) In his petition before the CA, Tyrone assailed the Dec. 22, 2015 order of Manila RTC Branch 39 Judge Noli Diaz to grant to joint motion of private lawyer Leonard De Vera to exclude Villanueva, Ramos, Compoc as accused in the charges and turn them into witnesses. “Wherefore, the Petition is denied. The December 22, 2015 Order and the May 11, 2016 Resolution of the Regional Trial, Branch, Manila in Criminal Case Nos. 14-3033459 and 14-303923 are hereby affirmed,” read the CA decision. The appellate court’s decision was penned by Associate Justice Carmelita Salandanan Manahan and concurred by Presiding Justice and First Division Chairperson Romeo Barza and Associate Justice Stephen Cruz. Ong and several others are facing two counts of frustrated murder charges before the Manila RTC concerning the gun attack against Esmeralda and his brother, PO3 Nilo Esmeralda. The Esmeralda brothers were wounded during an ambush on the night of February 21, 2012 when two men aboard a motorcycle fired at their vehicle in Paco, Manila. The frustrated murder charges are now being handled by Judge Alma Crispina Collado-Lacorte after RTC Judge Diaz issued a May 11, 2016 resolution which granted Ong’s motion to inhibit but turned down the appeal to remove the three as witnesses. Ong insisted that Diaz committed grave abuse of discretion considering that the three are “not qualified to be discharged as state witnesses as the conditions/requirements under the rule are not met” and being under the Witness Protection Program “does not necessarily mean that they are automatically qualified to be discharged as accused.” “A mere abuse of discretion is not enough; the abuse must be grave. Jurisprudence defines “grave abuse of discretion” as the capricious and whimsical exercises of judgment so patent and gross as to amount to an evasion of a positive duty or a virtual refusal to perform a duty enjoined by law, as where the power is exercised in an arbitrary and despotic manner because of passion or hostility,” the appellate court explained. “Hence, petitioner Ong failed to show the existence of grave abuse of discretion on the part of public respondent Judge Diaz in issuing the December 22, 2015 Order and the May 11, 2016 Resolution,” it stressed. Ong also questioned the decision of Diaz to grant the motion of the private lawyer to exclude and discharge the three from the charges and be admitted as state witnesses. He argued that under the procedure the prosecution of the case should be under the direct supervision of public prosecutors and De Vera is only a private lawyer who was granted by Manila City Prosecutor Edward Togonon to prosecute the case until final determination. “Evidently, such authority will last until the trial is completed, unless it is withdrawn or revoked. There is no showing that it was withdrawn or revoked. Consequently, Atty. De Vera is authorized to file the Joint Petition,” the appellate court pointed out. It also cited that “as early as the Preliminary Investigation stage of the cases, the three accused (private respondents Villanueva, Reamos and Compoc) were admitted as witnesses under the WPP (Witness Protection Program) by the DOJ (Department of Justice) after proper and stringent evaluation of their qualifications pursuant to R.A. No. 6981 (Witness Protection, Security and Benefit Act).” After having conducted a preliminary investigation, the DOJ filed charges before the Manila RTC against Ong, Ronnie Ong, alleged gunman Teodoro Abendaño, alleged motorcycle driver Ricky Dacillo, Gerry Farillon, Jose Maglalang, Aljun and Alvin Monticlaros, Villanueva, Ramos and Compoc. The witnesses have given detailed accounts of their participation in the crime and have pointed to the participation of the Ongs. Investigation showed that Ronnie allegedly organized the group, while, Tyrone allegedly gave P200,000 to finance the plot. The DOJ believes that the attack against Esmeralda was made since he was making it difficult for the NBI to pay Tyrone, who was a service provider of NBI clearances, and because of a land feud. Tyrone, who is also facing charges before the Sandiganbayan over the alleged ghost maintenance of Philippine National Police (PNP) vehicles, is also an associate of businessman Cedric Lee who was involved in the mauling of host and actor Vhong Navarro.