IN SIPALAY
Court acquits six
of grave coercion

Kabankalan Judge Henry Arles yesterday reversed the decision of the Municipal Trial Court in Cities of Sipalay City, Negros Occidental, and ordered the acquittal of two Department of Labor and Employment sheriffs, a police officer and three others accused of grave coercion.

Arles yesterday ordered the acquittal of DOLE sheriffs Richard Aprosta and Bayani (Edwin) Braza, SPO1 Exequil Poblacion, Abraham Javier, president of the National Mines and Allied Workers Union, and Ogie Gador and Felipe Minerva who were accused of compelling security guard Armando Lirazan at gunpoint to leave his post at the mine site in Brgy. San Jose, Sipalay City on July 18, 2003.

Lirazan, then an operations officer of the company, said the accused arrived on a white van, drove through a barricade fence and destroyed the padlock of the minesite gate, and when it was opened, NAMAWU members, mostly retrenched immediately rushed in.

He said SPO1 Poblacion ordered him and his men to lay down their firearms and surrender them to the sheriffs, and leave their post, court records showed.

On July 17, 2003, Javier said he sought assistance from DOLE sheriffs, policemen and Minerva of the ACME security agency to provide them assistance for the implementation of an alias writ of execution of 2002 issued by Secretary of Labor Patricia Sto. Tomas as "there was no more impediment" to its implementation.

In his 5-page decision, Arles said the elements of grave coercion were not shown to be all present in the acts of the accused and they could not be convicted of the offense charged.

The DOLE sheriffs had no authority of law to implement the subject writ of execution dated Aug. 30, 2002 since the Court of Appeals, in its resolution dated July 15, 2003, upon which the accused based their authority was not yet final, however no element of coercion was evident on them, the judge said.

SPO1 Poblacion must not be held liable because he was only exercising his authority as police officer. Gador cannot also be held liable for the crime charged, since his actuation does not fall within the meaning of violence and threats as contemplated, the judge added.

Javier could not be likewise held liable for the crime as his involvement was when he ordered his companions to destroy the padlock of the gate of the mine. It could not be said that he compelled by force complainant Lirazan to abandon his area of responsibility, the judge said.

In a decision rendered by the Sipalay MTCC on Feb. 1, 2006, the court sentenced Aprosta, Braza, Javier, SPO1 Poblacion to five months and a day minimum imprisonment to four years and two months as maximum. The accused were also ordered to pay a fine of P2,000 each, court records said.

On the other hand, the court acquitted Minerva after the prosecution failed to establish the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt.*DMG

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1 dead, 3 injured
in 'killer highway'

The so-called "killer highway" of Victorias City, Negros Occidental, claimed another life on Saturday, more than two weeks after the two sons and a relative of a police couple suffered a similar fate in the place.

Police investigators identified the latest fatality of a traffic accident in Victorias City as Juper Castillo.

Castillo was among the passengers of an Isuzo Elf cargo truck driven by Alfredo Canoy, which accidentally slammed into the rear of a parked Isuzo prime mover loaded with sugarcane in Hacienda Cristina, Brgy. 21, Victorias City, on April 22.

Police investigations show the traffic accident also caused the injuries of Ric de los Santos, Regie Anuada and Raffy de la Peña, all passengers of the Isuzo Elf vehicle.

Two weeks ago, Neil Edwin Alimpolo, his brother, Neil Irwin, sons of SPO3 Sherlita Alimpolo and SPO4 Edwin Alimpolo, died in a vehicular accident at the highway of Brgy. Tortosa, Manapla on April 6.

The cousin of the Alimpolo brothers, Arlene Batolina, was also killed in the same accident.

Police investigations also showed that the Alimpolo family was on their way to a hospital in Victorias City, when the tricycle they were riding, also slammed into the rear of a parked cargo truck. The mother of the Alimpolo brothers, SPO3 Sherlita Alimpolo, was also injured in the accident.*GPB

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Cops undergo 6-day
physical fitness test

The six-day physical fitness test among personnel of the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office started yesterday at the NOPPO headquarters, in Bacolod City.

The activity is held twice a year, with the 1-kilometer run or 100- meter sprint revised this year to include pull-up, push-up and sit-up exercises, 100-meter sprint and long distance run, a NOPPO press release said.

The long distance run is further categorized into the 3-kilometer run for policemen aged 34 years and below; 2-kilometer run for those between 35 and 44 years old; and the 1-kilometer run for those who are 45 years old and above.

Three Police Regional Office-6 medical officers are monitoring the activity.

To further ensure a continuity in the physical fitness development of the policemen, Camp Crame has also recommended a health care program among its members, consisting of a mandatory medical examination with complete laboratory work-up, regular aerobic physical activities, advocacy on lifestyle modification, and diet counseling, the press release added.*

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