CA affirms Dennis Roldan conviction for kidnapping Fil-Chinese boy in 2005

The Court of Appeals (CA) has affirmed the conviction of actor and former Quezon City congressman Dennis Roldan for kidnapping a Filipino-Chinese boy in 2005.

In a 17-page decision, the court's Fourteenth Division denied the appeal of Roldan, whose real name is Mitchell Gumabao, to reverse the ruling issued by the Pasig Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 167 dated August 26, 2014, which found him guilty of kidnapping for ransom under Article 267 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC) as amended by Republic Act 7659.

The CA agreed with the trial court that the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt Roldan's guilt through testimonial and documentary evidence.

The appeals court said Roldan failed to raise any significant error on the factual findings of the trial court.

"Appellant merely tried to fault the court a quo for considering only certain pieces of evidence which were found by this Court to be competent evidence while rejecting some parts thereof," the CA said.

"However, as aforestated, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with this. Hence, the decision of the court a quo based on the evidence offered to it is binding, legal, and within its jurisdiction to issue," it added.

The CA's decision promulgated April 20, 2018 was penned by Associate Justice Ronaldo Roberto Martin, with the concurrence of Associate Justices Ricardo Rosario and Eduardo Peralta

The Pasig RTC had found Roldan, along with two of his co-accused Rowena San Andres and Adrian Domingo, "guilty beyond reasonable doubt" of kidnapping in 2005 a then-three-year-old Filipino-Chinese boy.

The suspects reportedly demanded P250 million as ransom, but lowered it to P10 million after the victim's mother pleaded to them. The boy was eventually rescued at a safehouse in Quezon City.

The RTC sentenced the former lawmaker and actor to reclusion perpetua, a penalty imposed on people convicted of a crime under the RPC and carries with it an imprisonment of between 20 and 40 years.

After 30 years, convicts sentenced to reclusion perpetua are eligible for pardon.

Unlike a life sentence, which is handed down for crimes under special laws, reclusion perpetua carries with it accessory penalties including perpetual special disqualification.

The RTC also held Roldan liable to pay the kidnap victim P100,000 as civil indeminity, P100,000 as moral charges, and P100,000 for exemplary damages to the victim's family. — MDM, GMA News