Latest on the brutal murder of iBesaos
In the last week of May, 2019, Jansen Gabaen, Ronnie Macayba and Pedro Sauyen, all natives of Agawa, Besao, Mtn. Province were brutally murdered in a forested area known as “Pagpag” near Baclingayan, Tubo, Abra. The Besao people and those of neighboring towns and the Episcopal Church condemned these murders with calls for justice. A meeting initiated by the police was even held in Camp Dangwa. Even the New Peoples Army (NPA) offered that they help mediate the case. Cooler heads averted calls for a tribal war as they convinced the relatives of the victims and the tribal leaders that they seek justice through our legal system.
A certain Marlon Batuli was later identified by the people of Baclingayan, Tubo, Abra as the killer. Three counts of murder were later filed against him by the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office of Abra with the Regional Trial Court of Bucay, Abra. Considering however the safety of the relatives of the victims, their witnesses and their lawyers among other factors, the relatives of the victims, tribal leaders of the Agawa Tribe, Barangay Captains of several barangays in Besao and Mayor Johnson Bantog II of Besao Mountain Province filed a petition for the change of the venue of the trial from the Bucay Regional Trial Court to either the RTC of La Union, Benguet or Mtn. Province with the Supreme Court of the Philippines.
In a Resolution dated May 12, 2021, which the lawyers of the relatives of the victims received on August 12, 2021, the highest court granted the petition. It thus ordered the Branch Clerk of Court, Branch 58, RTC, Bucay Abra to transfer the entire records of the cases filed against Marlon Batuli to the Office of the Clerk of Court, RTC, Bontoc, Mtn. Province. With this development, the case of Batuli shall be heard at the RTC of Bontoc.
In granting the Petition, the Office of the Court Administration (OCA) noted several reasons to justify a change of venue. The highest court noted: “Among the reasons considered sufficient to justify a change of venue is the reluctance of the parties, their witnesses or counsel, to attend the trial of the subject case for fear of their lives. The killings of the three tribesmen belonging to the Agawa Tribe and the manner by which these were accomplished have created an atmosphere of alarm, apprehension and fear. The threats on their lives are realities which they have to deal with whenever petitioners, their witnesses as well as their counsel have to attend the hearings in Bucay, Abra. Also, the OCA agrees with the petitioners that the tribal affiliation of the parties have to be considered in this petition. Both tribes have very close ties and actively practice tribal cultural practices, customs and traditions, thus the possibility of tribal war is real. The Vice Governor of Abra, the Police Regional Office -Cordillera Administrative Region, and even the leader of the NPA noticed such possibility and appealed for the de-escalation of a possible tribal war”.
Moreover, the highest court noted that the RTC Judge in Bucay agrees to the change in venue for “according to her, considering the unique geographical features of the place and the severity of the case involved, the petition to transfer the venue of the above-mentioned criminal case is meritorious in the interest of fair and impartial trial and in order to avoid a miscarriage of justice”
With this ruling the victims’ kin are hoping will start to move towards their attainment of justice.**.
