Guilty verdict for 6 accused in Jacky Tiu-Lomibao kidnap case

ALTHOUGH the reading of the judge’s decision took only 30 minutes, the resolution of the case was 10 years in the making with 10 judges presiding one after the other.

On Thursday, a Manila court finally passed judgement on six Chinese men accused of kidnapping a Chinese-Filipino businesswoman.

Judge Antonio Rosales of the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 52 found Shi Jian Hui, Lim Jian Feng, Xu You Kwang, Wu Chang, Shi Chun Qi and Zhang Xi Wang guilty of kidnapping Jacky Rowena Tiu-Lomibao and sentenced them to each serve up to 40 years in prison without the possibility of parole.

“Justice has been served finally … It has been a long wait but it is worth the wait. I am happy that I put my faith and confidence in the justice system,” Lomibao told reporters as she was escorted out of the packed courtroom. Beside her was her husband, former Philippine National Police chief Arturo Lomibao.

Zhang Du, another accused who remains at large, was also found guilty of being an accessory to the kidnapping and was meted out a prison sentence ranging from six to eight years and one day.

On top of the 40-year jail term, Shi Jian Hui, Xu You Kwang and Wu Chang were also ordered to serve an additional 17 years and four months for stealing the victim’s car.

At the same time, the judge ordered all of the accused to pay the victim P100,000 in exemplary damages “with [the] legal rate of interest from the date of the commission of the felony until the said amounts are fully paid.”

During the promulgation, the six accused who were wearing yellow T-shirts with the markings “Manila City Jail extension detainee” did not show any emotion.

They claimed that none of them understood nor spoke English or Filipino although even after Movement for the Restoration of Peace and Order head Teresita Ang-See interpreted the judge’s ruling for them, they remained stoic.

Based on court records, Lomibao was abducted as she was driving her car just a few meters away from her house in San Fernando, La Union on Sept. 27, 2001.

Her kidnappers initially demanded a $2 million ransom but eventually settled for P10 million. After the ransom was paid, Lomibao was released while a joint police team caught the seven men who had kidnapped her.

Two years after he took charge of the case, San Fernando City Judge Antonio Carbonell inhibited himself while the judges who came on board after him did the same thing for personal reasons.

The case was later transferred to Manila based on a written request submitted by the complainant which was approved by the Supreme Court.

In his decision, Judge Rosales gave little credence to the defense of the accused that the victim and Shi Jian Hui were “sweethearts” who had eloped. The P10 million ransom, on the other hand, was a form of “financial assistance” for Shi whose business had reportedly gone bankrupt.

Rosales said that Shi never gave the court proof to bolster his claim that he and the victim were in a relationship.