A truck driver has been convicted of murder by the Manila regional trial court (RTC) for killing a van driver whom he rammed during a road rage incident in Manila in 2023.

Found “guilty beyond reasonable doubt” of murder was truck driver Marlon V. Ilas for killing van driver Benjamin E. Bagtas on Oct. 12, 2023.

Manila RTC Judge Thelma Bunyi-Medina sentenced Ilas to reclusion perpetua (maximum of 40 years) and ordered to pay Bagtas’ heirs P100,000 for civil indemnity, P100,000 for moral damages, P100,000 for exemplary damages, and P117,912 for actual damages.

“After a judicious examination of the testimonies of the Prosecution’s and Defense’s witnesses and the pieces of evidence they presented, this Court finds the version of the Prosecution to be in accord with the truth,” Judge Medina ruled.

At the time of the road rage incident, Bagtas was driving an aluminum van loaded with garlic to be delivered to Tanauan, Batangas.

The two drivers found themselves fighting for road space along their route that resulted to Ilas smashing the side mirror of the aluminum van driven by Bagtas.

Upon reaching the area of North Harbor, Bagtas stopped his aluminum van and decided to confront Ilas.  However, Ilas rammed Bagtas with the trailer truck.

The court’s decision stated: “Among the pieces of evidence presented by the Prosecution, the most compelling was the CCTV (closed-circuit television) footage, which vividly illustrates how the subject incident transpired. The scenes depicted in this footage substantiated the veracity of the Prosecution’s narrative.”

After the evaluation of the CCTV footage and the admissions of the accused (Ilas), the decision stated: “This Court finds that the actions of the accused were deliberate and not because of his inadvertence or lack of foresight that cause the victim’s death”

“Specifically, this Court finds that the accused, upon seeing that the aluminum van driven by the victim (Bagtas) had come to a full stop in front of his trailer truck, had intentionally steered his trailer truck slightly to the left, a move, which this Court considered as a preparatory maneuver before swerving the trailer truck to the right to purposely hit the victim and the latter’s aluminum van,” the decision stated.

The court disagreed with Ilas’ claim that he did not see Bagtas alight from the aluminum van.

“Accused’s said assertions are belied by his own admission that he saw the aluminum van stopped in front of his trailer truck,” it said.

“With the accused’s attention directed toward the aluminum van, the proximity between the two vehicles, and the natural line of sight afforded to him with the aluminum van being in front of his truck, it is highly unlikely that the act of the victim exiting from the driver’s side of the aluminum van would have escaped the accused’s notice,” it also said.

It debunked Ilas’ claim that “he was trying to avoid hitting the motorcycle in front of him and the incoming white van which was in the front portion of the trailer and end part of the head of his truck.”

It pointed out: “A closer review of the footage clearly reveals that the motorcycle ahead of the trailer truck had already moved forward at the time the incident occurred. By the accused’s own admission, the closest motorcycle came near his truck was approximately one and a half arm’s length -- a distance this Court finds to be reasonably safe. Such a gap would not have warranted a sudden aggressive maneuver to the right, particularly when the accused was fully aware that the aluminum van remained stationary in that lane.”

“Wherefore, finding accused Marlon Ilas y Valdez guilty beyond reasonable doubt of Murder, this Court hereby imposes upon him the penalty of reclusion perpetua with no eligibility of parole,” the RTC ruled in the decision promulgated last May 16.