The Makati City Office of City Prosecutor (OCP) has dismissed more criminal complaints against 11 persons on their alleged involvement in the death of flight attendant Christine F. Dacera on Jan. 1, 2021.
In a statement issued on Monday, Feb. 7, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said the dismissal of the complaints were contained in a resolution issued by the OCP last Jan. 31 after the conduct of preliminary investigation.
Dacera was found unconscious on Jan. 1, 2021 in the bath tub of Room 2209 of City Garden Grand Hotel in Makati City where she and her friends celebrated the arrival of the new year.
She was rushed to the Makati Medical Center (MMC) but was declared dead on arrival due to the rapture of a blood vessel medically known as aortic aneurysm.
Dismissed by the OCP were the complaints filed by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
The DOJ statement said:
“The complaint for Administering of Illegal Drugs under Section 5 of Republic Act No. 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, filed against Mark Anthony Rosales was dismissed as there was no proof or evidence that could establish the alleged administration of any illegal drug into the body of Christine Dacera.
“The fact that the drug test on Dacera yielded negative result for presence of dangerous drugs (i.e. Benzodiazepine, Ecstasy, Methamphetamine, Morphine, and Tetrahydrocannabinol), coupled by her urine sample examination results (showing that she was negative for Methamphetamine and Amphetamine), supported the findings of dismissal.”
It said the OCP dismissed “the complaint for Attempt to Deliver Illegal Drugs under the same law” against Rosales and Rommel D. Galido due to “the absence of the corpus delicti of the crime, i.e., the dangerous drug itself, which was not submitted to the prosecutors as evidence.”
“The complaint for Reckless Imprudence Resulting in Homicide against John Pascual Dela Serna, Jezreel P. Rapinan, Alain D. Chen and Louis S. De Lima” was dismissed since “there was no proof that said respondents were recklessly imprudent in failing to bring immediate medical attention to Dacera and that the same caused her death. Evidence suggested that respondents performed CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) immediately upon noticing Dacera’s perilous state and sought help from the hotel lobby,” the DOJ said.
It also said the OCP dismissed the obstruction of justice complaint against Rosales, Galido, Dela Serna, Rapinan, Chenm, Gregorio Angelo Rafael D. De Guzman, Reymar M. Englis, Darwin Joseph D. Macalla and Atty. Neptali G. Maroto since “they were simply protecting their rights within the bounds of law.”
At the same time, the OCP dismissed the falsification complaint against Dr. Michael Nick Sarmiento and perjury complaint against Galido, Dela Serna and Macalla, it said.
In the same resolution, the DOJ said the OCP dismissed the counter-complaints filed against Dacera’s mother, Sharon Rose F. Dacera, and several others including investigators of the Philippine National Police (PNP).
The dismissed counter-complaints included accusations of illegal detention, arbitrary detention, unlawful arrest, unjust vexation, perjury, libel, slander, cyberlibel, incriminating innocent person, intriguing against honor, and malicious prosecution.
On April 23, 2021, the OCP dismissed the rape with homicide complaint filed by the PNP against Dela Serna, Galido, De Guzman, Rapinan, Chen, Rosales, Englis, De Lima, Jamyr Orris Cunanan, John Paul Halili, and Eduardo Pangilinan III.