The Court of Appeals (CA) has stood pat on its Dec. 14, 2021 decision that upheld the Manila regional trial court’s (RTC) ruling which convicted of homicide eight personnel of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) for the death of a Taiwanese fisherman whose fishing vessel was at the Balintang Channel in Batanes in 2013.

In a resolution, the CA denied the motion for reconsideration filed by CDR. Arnold Enriquez Dela Cruz, SN2 Nicky Reynold Aurelio, SN1 Edrando Quiapo Aguila, SN1 Mhelvyn Aguilar Vendo II, SN1 Andy Gibb Ronario Golfo, SN1 Sunny Galang Masangkay, SN1 Henry Baco Solomon, and PO2 Richard Fernandez Corpuz for the death of Taiwanese Hong Shi Cheng.

They were sentenced to 14 years in prison and ordered to pay, jointly or severally the heirs of Hong P50,000 as civil indemnity and P50,000 as moral damages. The CA modified the RTC ruling by imposing a six percent interest per annum from the finality of the decision until the monetary awards are fully paid.

Denied by the CA were the eight PCG personnel’s allegations that the prosecution failed to establish that they were the ones who shot the victim and that their action was in fulfillment of a duty and lawful exercise of a right or office, and that there was conspiracy among them to commit the crime.

In its resolution promulgated last Sept. 29, the CA said:

“We also cannot give credence to accused-appellants’ (PCG personnel) defense of fulfillment of a duty and lawful exercise of a right or office.

“Aside from their bare allegation that the Taiwanese vessel tried to ram their vessel, no evidence was adduced by the accused-appellants to support this claim. As it happened, shooting the Taiwanese vessel is not reasonably necessary because accused-appellants were not under attack or subject of resistance.

“The resulting injury or offense was, therefore, not a necessary consequence of the due performance of duty or the lawful exercise of a right or office.

“This could have been proven during trial, but the defense chose to waive their right to present witnesses.

“Inarguably, by actively firing at the Taiwanese vessel Guang Da Xing, accused-appellants shall be held guilty of homicide as a result of the death of the victim Hong Shi Cheng.

“There being no new matters raised that would warrant a reversal or modification of Our Decision, this motion is hereby denied.

“Accordingly, the Motion for Reconsideration is DENIED for lack of merit. SO ORDERED.”

The three-page resolution was written by Associate Justice Ramon A. Cruz with the concurrence of Associate Justices Ruben Reynaldo G. Roxas and Angelene Mary W. Quimpo-Sale.

In its decision affirming the RTC’s ruling, the CA gave weight to the extra-judicial confession of Bendo II, Golfo and Solomon who narrated the events that transpired during the incident which caused the death of Hong.

It said that in their sworn affidavits, Bendo II, Golfo and Solomon named the persons on board the monitoring control surveillance 30001 (MCS-3001 ) and the persons who shot at the Taiwanese vessel Guang Da Xing as ordered by Dela Cruz that resulted in Hong’s death.

“As previously discussed, for an extrajudicial confession to be admissible in evidence against the accused, it must be: (a) voluntary; (b) made with the assistance of a competent and independent counsel; (c) express; and (d) in writing. All of these requisites were met in this case,” the CA said.

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