FILE PHOTO: Imelda Evangelista, 55, points to the spot where her son, Ariel Evangelista, and his wife, Chai Lemita-Evangelista, were shot dead by police officers in Barangay Calayo, Nasugbu, Batangas. The Evangelista couple was among the nine activists killed in simultaneous police-military raids in the Southern Luzon region on Sunday, March 7, 2021. INQUIRER/GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
MANILA, Philippines — Seventeen police officers who were indicted over the 2021 murder of political activists on what was known as the “Bloody Sunday” raid in several areas in Southern Luzon have asked the Department of Justice (DOJ) to dismiss the charges filed against them.
In three separate memoranda on Thursday, the respondents through their respective counsels asked the DOJ to dismiss the charges due to the “absence of any probable cause” for the gruesome murder of Ariel and his wife Ana Mariz “Chai” Lemita Evangelista inside their home in Nasugbu, Batangas, on March 7, 2021.
One of the pleadings, from the counsel of Pat. Bautista, and Pat. Tenoso, stated that “there is no physical evidence or even testimonial showing Respondents were the ones who shot the spouses Evangelista or performed any overt acts leading to their deaths.”
Bautista and Tenoso explained that they arrived at the scene at around 4:45 a.m of March 7, 2021, or even before the spouses were supposedly “dragged” out of their homes.
The respondents also refuted allegations that they were wearing bonnets during the operation, explaining that this was “not indicative of any sinister intent on respondents’ part as the ongoing pandemic required them to ensure that their face masks did not slip or fall as they implemented the search warrants.”
Their counsel further pointed out that the respondents wore their PNP uniforms displaying their names, ranks, units and serial numbers.
“This negates any accusation that respondents were seeking to hide their identities,” said the counsel in the memo.
“In light of the foregoing it is clear there is no probable cause to hale respondents to trial for murder or any other crime and as such the captioned case must be dismissed as it would be pure injustice to publicly bring Respondents to trial for a non-bailable offense despite the absence of any probable cause,” it added.
This came after National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) on Monday asked the DOJ to hold liable for two counts of murder the respondent police officers who took part in the “bloody Sunday” operation last year that led to the death the Evangelista spouses.
Aside from Bautista and Tenoso, the other respondents were PLt.Col. Joseph Nandu Jr., PLt. Arjay Santos, PMSg. Rafael Roque, PMSg. Mark Tolentino, PSSg. Elvern Cacatian, PSSg. Rodel Sillacay, PSSg. Edgar Brinas, PCpl. Aldrin Gabrillo, PCpl. Allen Lugue, Pat. Ray Boom Boom Dalingay, Pat. Grizzly Paras, Pat. Rogelio Ninolla, Pat. Rich John Melniel Tumacder, Pat. Renzo Santos, and Pat. Mark Lester Padul.
The Evangelista spouses — who had led their community in opposing the construction of at least 150 fish cages that would occupy the fishing grounds of Nasugbu, Batangas — were shot to death by the police on March 7, 2021.
The NUPL also said that eyewitness testimonies showed that the police officers “greatly outnumbered the victims” and “carried their own individual 9mm short service firearms and 5.56 Galil ACE 22 long service firearms.”
In their counter-affidavits on March 22, however, the police officers claimed that they did not even fire their guns.
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