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CEBU CITY – A Cebu City judge convicted a police officer of homicide on Tuesday for killing a 17-year-old robbery suspect 10 years ago, and sentenced him to a prison term of six to nine years.
Judge Ester Veloso of the Regional Trial Court’s Branch 6 also ordered Senior Police Officer 1 Adonis Dumpit, a bodyguard of former Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña, to indemnify the relatives of Ronron Go in the the amount of P50,000.
Dumpit was originally charged with murder for the death of Go following an alleged robbery in Barangay (village) Tejero in Cebu City in December 2004, but the judge downgraded the offense to homicide, saying there was no treachery on the part of the accused when he shot the victim.
Veloso, however, explained that Dumpit was not free of any criminal liability and could not claim self-defense as there was no unlawful aggression and provocation on the part of the victim.
“Law enforcers thrust their lives in unimaginable peril. Yet resort to wanton violence is never justified when their duty could not be performed otherwise. The right to kill an offender is not absolute and may be used only as a last resort,” Veloso said in her 27-page decision. “The law does not clothe police officers with authority to arbitrarily judge the necessity to kill.”
Dumpit, who was escorted by personnel of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, refused to give any statement to the media after the verdict was read. His lawyer Benjamin Militar said they would ask the court to reconsider the ruling.
Militar said that in the meantime he may apply for bail since Dumpit was convicted of homicide, a bailable offense.
Nonetheless, Militar said, he was happy that the judge downgraded the charge to a lesser offense.
“We have to commend the judge for a very thorough decision. She appreciated all the evidence. We’re happy with what she rendered,” Militar said. Dumpit was accused of shooting Go in Dec. 14, 2004.
Dumpit, who served as bodyguard of former Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña, has been detained at the Cebu City Jail since he surrendered to police in February 2010.