Ex-Davao del Sur governor Cagas to seek bail in journalist slay case

DIGOS CITY, Philippines—Lawyers of former Davao del Sur governor Douglas Cagas said on Wednesday they would ask the court to grant Cagas bail while being tried for the 2010 murder of journalist Nestor Bedolido.

Lawyer Marc Fernandez, one of Cagas’ lawyers, said they would insist on the innocence of the former provincial executive in convincing the court to grant him temporary liberty.

Cagas yielded on Monday, more than an hour before Judge Carmelita Davin issued a warrant for his arrest. The former governor was charged for allegedly masterminding Bedolido’s killing in June 2010.

Former Gov. Douglas Cagas. FILE PHOTO

Shortly after he surrendered to the Davao del Sur police chief, Senior Supt. Michael John Dubria, Cagas issued a statement to media that he had not ordered anybody to kill in his name.

The self-confessed gunman, Voltaire Mirafuentes, said that Cagas told him to kill Bedolido. Mirafuentes also implicated Matanao Mayor Vicente Fernandez and alleged Cagas henchmen Ali Ordaneza, Bado Sanchez and three others, including his brother, Henry.

Henry would subsequently be arrested while Ordaneza and Sanchez remained at large, as of Wednesday. Fernandez is currently under hospital arrest while another suspect, Artemio Timosan, has been cleared for lack of evidence.

Lawyer Fernandez did not say when they would file the motion to grant bail.

Cesar Europa, lawyer for the Bedolido family, said he would oppose Cagas’ petition for bail.

Arsenio Latasa, a trial lawyer before entering politics, said there were instances that bail could be granted in non-bailable cases such as murder.

Latasa said a judge might grant bail if the suspect had no intention to flee prosecution or if there was not enough evidence to prosecute him for the charges brought up before any court of justice.

“It is really up to the judge handling the case,” he said.

Bedolido once served as editor of the Digos Times, a magazine that Cagas owned.

Initial investigation revealed that Bedolido and Cagas had a falling out and the journalist later became a columnist of the weekly Davao del Sur-based Kastigador, which carried exposés against the governor’s administration.

On June 16, 2010, the 50-year-old Bedolido was buying cigarettes outside his videoke parlor when shot dead. He succumbed to six gunshot wounds.

Government prosecutors initially dropped the murder charges against Cagas and the other accused.

But on August 26 this year, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima reversed the decision and signed a 16-page resolution ordering the filing of murder charges against them.

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