ILOILO CITY -- Murder charges have been dropped against the suspects in the September 14 killing of three young businessmen, namely, John Paul ‘JP’ Bosque, Chrysler Floyd Fernandes, and Mark Clarence Libao, in Estancia town, Iloilo province.
The Iloilo Provincial Prosecutor’s Office dismissed the murder charges against Jevron Parohinog who was the lone survivor in what was then believed to be a shooting incident.
The December 10, 2022 resolution also dropped the murder charges against Jevron’s brother Jix, Michael Porras, Michael Quiatchon, Benzen Llamado, and the six ‘John Does.’ The victims and the suspects are in their 20s.
The 11-page resolution penned by Assistant Provincial Prosecutor Ronilo Pamonag found that the police failed to present strong evidence that the suspects colluded with each other and executed the murder.
“The prosecutor found that the evidence was insufficient,” said Atty. Aida Rose Villanueva, the legal counsel of Llamado.
Villanueva also told Manila Bulletin in a phone interview Tuesday, Dec. 20, that the prosecutor also noted that the police could not ascertain if Jevron was a victim or a suspect.
Jevron earlier claimed that armed suspects fired at the vehicle that he was driving and with the three victims as passengers. But the vehicle had no bullet holes.
The investigation task force of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO) previously pointed to Jevron as the main suspect when he allegedly owed his friend and business partner Bosque a large sum of money.
Villanueva also said that the prosecutor noted why the place where the crime was supposed to have happened could not be ascertained if the three victims were killed in another area and not inside the vehicle.
It is unclear if the IPPO will file again. But the triple murder was a high-profile crime. The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) even had a separate investigation.