BACOLOD City – Regional Trial Court Branch 44 in this city has ordered dismissed for lack of probable cause to merit the issuance of warrant of arrests against Negros Occidental 1st District congressman Melecio Yap Jr. and Gregory Tuayon.
The court also ordered Yap and Tuayon to be dropped as party-accused in the case.
This was after Judge Ana Celeste Bernad issued a resolution on Oct. 24 resolving the motions for judicial determination of probable cause filed separately by Yap on Jan. 16, 2017 and Tuayon on Jan. 23, 2017, in relation to their criminal case No. 17-6303 for murder.
Yap and Tuayon were facing charges for four murder cases and a frustrated murder case in relation to the alleged deaths of about 28 Escalante natives in alleged extrajudicial killings in 2007 .
The complainants were known supporters of former Escalante mayor Santiago Barcelona, the political rival of Yap when both sought the mayoralty seat in 2007.They alleged that Yap and other co-accused took part in killings.
Ariel Malunes, legal counsel of Yap said that the frustrated murder and three murder cases were already dismissed by RTC Branch 57 in 2017, only that the complainants filed their motions in the said court .
The lawyer explained that dismissed cases with pending motions in Branch 57 were all transferred in Branch 59 following the inhibition of Branch 57 judge Danilo Amisola.
Malunes added that the Criminal case No. 17-6303 was under Judge Katheryn Go. So Branch 59 had consolidated the five cases (frustrated murder and four murder cases), Malunes said.
But later, Go asked the Supreme Court for the re-raffling of the five cases because she wanted to inhibit herself in the cases, so the SC granted and a re-raffling was held, landing the five cases in Branch 44.
Malunes said that they are now waiting for the decision of the court in the motion for reconsideration for the frustrated and three murder cases filed by the complainants last year.
While, in the Oct. 24 order of the Branch 44 in criminal case No. 17-6303 the complainant can still file a legal remedy on the dismissal order.
Malunes stressed that the recent order has no finality yet.
Bernad said that there is no single incident that would implicate Yap and Tuayon in the murder./PN
