For Friday’s episode on Election Day at our Balitaktakan segment at 9:00 in the morning of June 25, 2021 at Regional News Group Luzon, we will be deviating to a more interesting topic of fathers who are involved in crimes.
In one case, Pepong who is married to Pepang decides to end his life after he discovers that Pepang has replaced him with a presumptively ‘better’ husband. But first, he kills their children. He then throws himself out of the window in order to end his miserable and despicable life, unfortunately, he survives. Trial ensues and he enters an insanity plea. What is he liable of?
In another case, Pepang, the lawfully married wife, decides to be a criminal as well, plans to terminate Pepong, her husband, together with her father-in-law, Petring. She hires a younger man to do the nefarious job of eliminating father and son. They succeed, yet certain witnesses surfaced to reveal their identities to the police. Justice would have caught up to them had it not been for the unexpected and astonishing event pulled off by Pepang.
The third case tells us about Pepong who enters the house of a neighbor, Bebang. Pepong hits Bebang’s head with a piece of stone and while the latter was unconscious, Pepong successfully rapes her. Little does Pepong know, that there was an 8-year old girl who witnessed the entire incident. He threatens the child and orders her to go back to sleep. A truck passes by, so Pepong takes off and rans away only in his briefs. He left behind his jacket and pants. During Trial, he admits that he is the owner of the jacket and pants but claims that they were stolen from his house. Is he, nevertheless, going to be convicted for his crime?
The fourth case deals with a father and son, Pepong and Pepeng, where the son, Pepeng witnesses his father’s assassination. One night, Pepong and Pepeng were on their way home after attending a wedding in their barangay, when suddenly, in a well-lighted area, Bitong appears and shoots Pepong with a gun four times and stabs him with a knife in the stomach resulting in Pepong’s instantaneous death. During trial, Bitong disputes the credibility of Pepeng, saying that Pepong’s testimony is bias, being a relative, the son could concoct untrue or different stories just to put the blame on Bitong. Did the court believe Bitong and what was his motive in killing Pepong?
Lastly, we have a case that tells us about a father who was attacked by his so called ‘friends’. One night, Pepong was attacked by assailants who were known to him. Bitong his neighbor, Eufronio and three others armed with a hand gun and a hunting knife were demanding food from Pepong. Pepong agreed to hand over the food but refused to open the door for fear that he could get hurt. They tried to burn Pepong’s house by lighting a portion of it but Pepong was able to stop the fire from spreading. Eufronio shot Pepong, prompting Pepong’s son, Pepeng to jump out of the window. Pepeng was able to see who the assailants were. He ran to his brother whose house was only 15 meters away, but the brother Petro, could not do anything because he was stricken with fear, even as he saw their father’s house burning at a distance. Bitong, Eufronio, et. al., shot and stabbed Pepong to death. Then as a final act of hatred, the house of Pepong, with an estimated value of P30,000.00, they mercilessly burned to the ground. During trial, Bitong, Eufronio et. al. pleads not guilty and presents a different version of the incident. Will Bitong, Eufronio and their cohorts be absolved from any liability?
Find out the liability of the accused in all these cases decided by the Supreme Court, this Friday at Regional News Group Luzon. Belated Happy Father’s Day to all fathers.
***All comments mentioned in this article are made in my personal capacity as a lawyer and are not made as an employee of the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
