“Not guilty.”
Nursing student Christian Lucky Dalangin, 25, entered his plea of innocence in yesterday’s court arraignment on a charge of parricide.
Earlier efforts to strike a plea bargain for a lesser offense of homicide, and consequently a lower penalty, did not prosper.
Lawyer Leah Cruz of the Public Attorney’s Office said his family has not reached an agreement yet about it.
“We might as well go to trial. As counsel of the accused, I won’t allow him to admit the offense with a penalty of capital punishment,” Cruz told Cebu Daily News.
The youngest son of murder victim Rubirosa Tenchavez had earlier executed an extra-judicial confession where he admitted to cutting his mother’s throat on Aug. 23 and burying her remains in a newly dug hole in their residence in Mambaling, Cebu City.
Cruz said his “not guilty” plea isn’t necessarily a recantation of his previous admission and that a plea bargain may still happen while the trial gets under way.
The main private complainant in the case is the victim’s husband, Virgilio, father of Christian.
The lawyer said Virgilio and Rubirosa’s marriage hasn’t been annulled contrary to previous media reports.
Virgilio was present in court yesterday but declined to issue any statement to the media.
“The father wants a plea bargain. He pities his son. Eventually, I know the aunties of the accused will also pity him,” Cruz said.
Cruz said she has not received any feedback yet from the victim’s sisters about the proposal to have a plea bargaining agreement.
“Let’s have the trial for now,” she said.
The parties will appear before Regional Trial Court Judge Gilbert Moises of Branch 18 for the pre-trial conference on Oct. 17.
In a separate interview, Assistant City Prosecutor Ricky Jones Macabaya said the prosecution rejected the plea bargaining agreement presented by the defense.
“It’s just that the family didn’t have a common ground about the issue,” Macabaya said.
Dalangin’s father Virgilio wanted the charges against the accused downgraded from parricide to homicide.
In a plea bargaining agreement, the accused may agree to enter a guilty plea.
In return, the prosecutor agrees to dismiss the charges or recommend favorable penalty to the court.
If convicted of parricide, Dalangin faces a penalty of reclusion perpetua or 20 to 40 years of imprisonment.
Homicide would draw a term of 15 years.
Dalangin earlier admitted killing his mother Rubirosa after she scolded him when he returned home past midnight after a drinking session with friends.
She allegedly berated him over broken floor tiles and a damaged computer.
Dalangin said he got a knife and slashed his mother’s neck twice then called two friends to help dig a hole in a stockroom where he placed her remains and paved it over with concrete.
The National Bureau of Investigation in Central Visayas said it is opposed to a plea bargain agreement for Dalangin.
“It’s a heinous crime. It’s a parricide case,” said NBI-7 Agent Bernard de la Cruz.
He said they have testimonies from witnesses and Dalangin’s confession to bolster their case against him.