Lawyer’s anger, daddy’s revenge

Here’s an attorney who put up the ultimate defense, not for a paying client but for his own daughter.

A lawyer who allegedly killed a man for harassing his daughter on an alley was charged with homicide in the Manila Regional Trial Court on Friday.

The police earlier filed a murder complaint against Augusto Marte, but it was reduced to a lighter, bailable offense after the prosecutor handling the case ruled out treachery in the attack and said it was “ordinary human experience” for a father to rage over an affront on his child.

But the victim’s family said they also plan to file a disbarment case against Marte, 67, a resident of Extramadura Street in Manila’s Sampaloc district, who was arrested for the May 19 incident.

The police earlier said Marte hit Joselito Macario, 51, in the head with a steel pipe in retaliation for what the latter allegedly did to the lawyer’s daughter Ava.

In his counteraffidavit, however, Marte said he hit Macario with a piece of wood in a confrontation wherein the latter tried to stab him with a broken bottle.

The injured Macario, a barangay tanod (village watchman) who also works as a jeepney terminal barker, managed to go to the barangay hall to file a complaint. He then went to the hospital, where he lost consciousness and later died.

‘Excuse me’

According to court records, Marte’s daughter Ava was walking to their car around 5:30 p.m. on May 19 to go to church when Macario blocked her path on an alley leading to Extremadura Street.

“Excuse me, makiraan nga (may I pass),” the woman was quoted as saying. But a peeved Macario purportedly replied: “Napakaluwag naman ng daan eh di dumaan ka (But there’s plenty of room, so just walk on).”

Ava insisted that she didn’t want their bodies to come into contact so she pushed him. Macario then laughed at her, according to the case records.

Returning from church later, Ava told her father about the encounter. Marte then confronted Macario, asking him: “Why did you insult my daughter?”

A fight broke out between the two men. According to Ava, Macario got hold of a bottle, broke it to get a cutting edge, and tried to use it to stab her father.

The lawyer then got hold of a piece of wood and hit Macario in the head. Bystanders then broke up the fight.

But witnesses for the victim’s family said there was no actual confrontation and that Marte initially just threw dagger looks at Macario. The lawyer then approached Macario and hit him with a steel pipe in the head and the neck.

Senior Assistant City Prosecutor Jovencio Senados recommended that Marte be charged with homicide instead of murder, noting the absence of treachery in the attack.

“It is more in accordance with ordinary human experience that a father would get seriously offended with such an affront on the womanhood of her daughter,” said Senados, who set bail at P40,000.

The police earlier filed a murder complaint against Augusto Marte, but it was reduced to a lighter, bailable offense after the prosecutor handling the case ruled out treachery in the attack and said it was “ordinary human experience” for a father to rage over an affront on his child.

But the victim’s family said they also plan to file a disbarment case against Marte, 67, a resident of Extramadura Street in Manila’s Sampaloc district, who was arrested for the May 19 incident.

The police earlier said Marte hit Joselito Macario, 51, in the head with a steel pipe in retaliation for what the latter allegedly did to the lawyer’s daughter Ava.

In his counteraffidavit, however, Marte said he hit Macario with a piece of wood in a confrontation wherein the latter tried to stab him with a broken bottle.

The injured Macario, a barangay tanod (village watchman) who also works as a jeepney terminal barker, managed to go to the barangay hall to file a complaint. He then went to the hospital, where he lost consciousness and later died.

‘Excuse me’

According to court records, Marte’s daughter Ava was walking to their car around 5:30 p.m. on May 19 to go to church when Macario blocked her path on an alley leading to Extremadura Street.

“Excuse me, makiraan nga (may I pass),” the woman was quoted as saying. But a peeved Macario purportedly replied: “Napakaluwag naman ng daan eh di dumaan ka (But there’s plenty of room, so just walk on).”

Ava insisted that she didn’t want their bodies to come into contact so she pushed him. Macario then laughed at her, according to the case records.

Returning from church later, Ava told her father about the encounter. Marte then confronted Macario, asking him: “Why did you insult my daughter?”

A fight broke out between the two men. According to Ava, Macario got hold of a bottle, broke it to get a cutting edge, and tried to use it to stab her father.

The lawyer then got hold of a piece of wood and hit Macario in the head. Bystanders then broke up the fight.

But witnesses for the victim’s family said there was no actual confrontation and that Marte initially just threw dagger looks at Macario. The lawyer then approached Macario and hit him with a steel pipe in the head and the neck.

Senior Assistant City Prosecutor Jovencio Senados recommended that Marte be charged with homicide instead of murder, noting the absence of treachery in the attack.

“It is more in accordance with ordinary human experience that a father would get seriously offended with such an affront on the womanhood of his daughter,” said Senados, who set bail at P40,000.