‘An argument against death penalty’

Rodel Tiglao and Melvin Dizon with human rights lawyer Oscar Rodriguez (center) —TONETTE T. OREJAS

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—The case of two young men jailed for 11 years here for a crime they did not commit could be another argument against restoring the death penalty, a human rights lawyer who watched the case closely said.

Melvin Dizon, now 35, and Rodel Tiglao, now 32, were arrested on Feb. 9, 2006, in a bar in Angeles City for the killing of Roy Aquino.

The slain man’s brother, Christopher, had linked Dizon and Tiglao to his brother’s death.

At the time of his arrest, Dizon, son of a tailor and then 24, was a fourth year agricultural engineering student at then Pampanga Agricultural College (PAC) in Magalang town.

Tiglao, who was 21 at the time of his arrest, was then helping an aunt manage a dormitory outside PAC and in his second year in a vocational course.

Paraded in a lineup of suspects at Camp Crame, the Philippine National Police headquarters, they found themselves in more trouble when they were also linked to 28 counts of rape, murder and frustrated murder in Tarlac province, the City of San Fernando and Batangas City.

“Their predicament reveals our flawed criminal justice system,” said human rights lawyer and former Pampanga Rep. Oscar Rodriguez.

“It’s an argument against the reimposition of death penalty,” he added.

Justice had been served after 11 years. Judge Eda Dizon-Era, of the Regional Trial Court in Angeles City, ordered their release on May 8.

The order reached the two on May 22.

Era’s decision stipulated that “the prosecution was not able to establish the identity of the accused and the elements of the offense charged for robbery with homicide.”

Era cited instances of sloppy work by the prosecution. “It appearing that Christopher Aquino’s positive identification [of Dizon and Tiglao] is contaminated, it cannot be used to establish the identity of the accused or of the elements of the offense.”

“What is so baffling [in] this case is that after more than 10 years of litigation, the arresting officers never showed up to testify despite due notice. No other evidence was presented, not even the death certificate of Roy Aquino,” the judge said.