Alleged mastermind behind Jee Ick Joo slay allowed to post bail

An Angeles City court has allowed the alleged mastermind behind the 2016 abduction and murder of Korean businessman Jee Ick Joo to post bail.

In a April 24 order seen Tuesday, Judge Irin Zenaida Buan of the Angeles City Regional Trial Court Branch 56 granted Police Lieutenant Colonel Rafael Dumlao III’s petition for bail.

The court set the bail at P300,000 for each of the three cases.

Dumlao faces one case for kidnapping for ransom with homicide, another for kidnapping and serious illegal detention, and another for carnapping alongside Police Chief Master Sergeant Ricky Sta. Isabel and one Jerry Omlang.

In the 32-page ruling, the court said the prosecution failed to prove that the evidence against Dumlao is strong. The 1987 Constitution provides that persons accused of crimes shall be entitled to bail, except those charged with offenses punishable by reclusion perpetua when the evidence of guilt is strong.

"Sifting through the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses, the Court holds that none of them proved a particular act or acts of the accused Dumlao that clearly established his complicity in the abduction and killing of the victim Ick Joo Jee," the court held.

On the other hand, the same court denied Sta. Isabel and Omlang’s petition for bail after finding that "there is strong proof evident insofar as [their] guilt."

It ruled that the witnesses positively identified the two and showed their involvement in Jee's abduction and murder on Oct. 18, 2016.

Their former co-accused, Police Chief Master Sergeant Roy Villegas, was earlier discharged as a state witness and ordered released from police custody after he completed his testimony.

Trial will begin on June 19, the court said.

The prosecution has asked the court to issue a hold departure order against Dumlao to prevent him from leaving the country while the cases against him are pending. —KBK/RSJ, GMA News