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People of the Philippines Vs. Marcelo Z. Bustamante

PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, Appellee, versus MARCELO BUSTAMANTE y ZAPANTA, NEIL BALUYOT y TABISORA, RICHARD DELOS TRINO y SARCILLA, HERMINIO JOSE y MONSON, EDWIN SORIANO y DELA CRUZ and ELMER SALVADOR y JAVALE, Appeellants

G.R. No. 172357 | 2010-03-19

D E C I S I O N


DEL CASTILLO, J.:

The police authorities are the ones tasked to promote and maintain peace and order in our country. Thus, it becomes doubly deplorable when they themselves commit the criminal act. In this case, appellants insist on their innocence; they deny that they killed the victim Romeleo Quintos on June 1, 1997 inside the detention cell of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). But we are not persuaded. We took a second hard look at the evidence presented and we hold that both the trial court and the appellate court correctly found that the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that the appellants are...