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Ombudsman scores win as Sandiganbayan sentences ex-Cavite mayor, aides to 24 years
02 July 2012

            The Office of the Ombudsman scored another win following a Sandiganbayan decision finding Alberto Ambagan Jr., former mayor of Amadeo, Cavite, and several others, guilty of two counts of homicide for the murder of SPO2 Reynaldo Santos and Domingo Bawalan in 2004.

            Ambagan, now a provincial board member, along with former municipal councilor Michael Malabanan, and Civil Security Unit (CSU) members Celestino Garcia and Roger Causaren were sentenced to suffer the indeterminate penalty of 6 years and 1 day of prision mayor as minimum, to 12 years and 1 day of reclusion temporal as maximum for each of the two counts.

            In an 83-page ruling penned by First Division Chairperson and Associate Justice Efren dela Cruz, and concurred in by Associate Justices Rodolfo Ponferrada and Rafael Lagos, the Court also ordered the accused to pay the families of Santos and Bawalan in the amounts of P2,535,854.32 and P140,000, respectively.

            Other CSU members Alberto Angcanan, Juanito Loyola, Melanio b***t, Flor Amparo and Rosendo Causaren, who were charged as accomplices, were acquitted for failure to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt. Earlier, the Court, in an October 15, 2008 resolution dismissed the case against Reo Rojales on demurrer to evidence, and against Domingo Villasis by reason of extinction of his criminal liability occasioned by his death.

            Court records showed that Santos, then head of the Intelligence and Investigation Division of the Cavite Provincial Mobile Group, apprehended Ambagan’s men carrying short and long firearms in Barangay Tamacan, Amadeo town on July 5, 2004.           

            Ambagan approached Santos and requested the latter that they just settle the problem. Santos replied that the mayor should just wait for Superintendent Benigno Cabillo, the immediate superior of Santos.           

            The mayor repeatedly made the same request, but Santos stood pat and rejected his demand.

            Ambagan then got angry and said: “Sige ‘yan pala ang gusto mo. Mga kasama, banatan na ninyo iyan.”

            Thereupon, the first gunshot was fired, followed by successive gunshots from Ambagan’s men—Malabanan, Garcia and Causaren.

            Leandro Causaren, Rene Amparo, Edrelin John Jamon, Santos and Domingo died instantly in the shooting incident which lasted for about five minutes. The first three were from the group of Ambagan.           

            Autopsy examinations showed that Santos sustained 16 gunshot wounds while Domingo had four.

            In its ruling, the Court found that Ambagan induced, commanded and ordered his men to attack, assault, and shoot the victims.

            Supt. Cabillo testified that Santos informed him through a text message about the arrest and seizure of the firearms and that Ambagan was at the area requesting for a settlement.

            The ruling stated that the “empty shells were examined twice, first by the National Headquarters of the PNP [Philippine National Police], and second, by the Firearms and Identification Division.” Both tests, according to the Court, found that several shells were fired from one and the same .45 caliber pistol licensed to Malabanan.

            The Court also gave weight to the testimony of Ronnel Bawalan, the brother of Bawalan and cousin-in-law of Santos, who saw the events unfold since he was near the crime site.

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