The parents of 17-year-old Jemboy Baltazar at the Department of Justice (DOJ) after the Navotas court handed down its verdict finding one of six cops guilty of homicide. (Photo by TETCH TORRES / INQUIRER.net)
Updated on February 27, 2024, at 1:07 p.m.
MANILA, Philippines — The Navotas Regional Trial Court Branch 286 has found guilty of homicide one of the six police officers involved in the killing of 17-year-old Jerhode “Jemboy” Baltazar.
Pronounced guilty of homicide is Staff Sergeant Gerry Sabate Maliban (IS). He was meted with a penalty of up to six years and four months of imprisonment plus a total of P100,000 in civil liability and for moral damages.
The other police officers are as follows:
- Executive Master Sergeant Roberto Dioso Balais Jr.
- Staff Sergeant Nikko Pines Corollo Esquillon (SWAT)
- Corporal Edmark Jake Sorbito Blanco (Sub-station 4)
- Patrolman Benedict Danao Mangada (Sub-station 4)
They were been found guilty of illegal discharge of firearms. They were meted with a penalty of four months and one day of imprisonment.
Meanwhile, Staff Sergeant Antonio Balcita Bugayong (Intelligence Service) was acquitted.
Aside from not admitting that he fired his gun on the day Jemboy was killed, the court noted that a paraffin test of his firearm yielded negative results for gunpowder.
“Although the absence of a gun powder is not conclusive evidence that the gun was not fired, yet the negative result of gunpowder is a corroborative evidence,” the court said.
It added that the witness, “Sonny Boy,” said the“fat man” firing his gun at the dike was not Bugayon.
“With all these evidence, there is doubt that PSSg Bugayong fired his gun,” the court said.
Murder was initially filed against the police officers.