A woman, who has been tagged by law enforcement authorities as a high-ranking officer of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA), was acquitted by the Quezon City regional trial court (RTC) of charges of illegal possession of firearm and explosive in a decision handed down on Friday, Sept. 17.
Acquitted and ordered released from jail was Esterlita Espinosa Suaybaguio in the decision written by Judge Janet Abergos Samar of RTC Branch 219.
“WHEREFORE, premises considered, Esterlita Espinosa Suaybaguio with aliases ‘Nali,’ ‘Loida,’ and ‘Ester’ is ACQUITTED of the criminal charges of Illegal Possession of Firearm and Illegal Possession of an Explosive, in Criminal Case Nos. R-QZN-19-13313-CR and R-QCN-19-13313-CR, for failure of the prosecution to establish her guilt beyond reasonable doubt,” Judge Samar ruled.
In ordering Suaybaguio’s release, the RTC said:
“The Jail Warden of the Quezon City Jail Fermale Dormitory is ordered to release from her custody the person of Esterlita Espinosa Suaybaguio... unless she is detained for some other cause/s and after compliance with the health protocols in connection the coronavirus diseas 2019 pandemic.
“The said officer is given 72 hours from notice to inform the court in writing of the date and time of the release of the accused, or of reason why she was not discharged.”
Suaybaguio was arrested at her rented condominium unit in Quezon City on Aug. 26, 2019 by police officers who served the search warrant against her, Rodrigo Santos Asparago and Armando Calasagsag.
During the search, the police enforcers claimed that they found one handgun and a hand grenade.
Charges of violations of illegal possession of firearm under Republic Act No. 10591 and illegal possession of an explosive under RA 9516 were filed against Suaybaguio before the Quezon City RTC.
In her testimony during the trial, Suaybaguio admitted being a campaign officer of the women’s rights group Gabriela.
The Philippine National Police (PNP), on the other hand, claimed she was the Metro Manila Regional Party Committee (MMRPC) of the CPP-NPA.
In its decision, the trial court said that Suaybaguio managed to show that the firearm is “registered to a security agency - The Legend Security Agency.”
The decision stated that the prosecution failed to refute that Suaybaguio is an employee of the security agency which has issued to her a duty detail order (DDO).
It said that under RA 10591 or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act, “a juridical person, like a private firm, establishment, corporation or private security agency, a license to own and possess firearms is called a Long Regular Registration or LRR.”
“RA 10591 authorizes a juridical entity to assign the firearms covered by its LRR to its employee and to issue them a Duty Detail Order or DDO,” it pointed out.
The decision also stated that “no testimonial or documentary evidence from the FEO (PNP’s Firearms and Explosives Office) was presented to establish that the accused has no license to possess the subject hand grenade.”
Citing Supreme Court (SC) decisions, the trial court said: “In our criminal justice system, what is important is, not whether the court entertains doubts about the innocence of the accused since an open mind is willing to explore all possibilities, but where it entertains a reasonable, lingering doubt as to his or her guilt.”
“A criminal conviction entirely rests on the strength of the evidence of the prosecution and not on the weakness of the defense, and an acquittal based on reasonable doubt will prosper even though the innocence of the accused may be doubted,” it also said quoting from an SC ruling.