Court of Appeals upholds life in prison verdict on Rizal Day bombers

Roughly eleven years after the Rizal Day bombing, the Court of Appeals affirmed the sentence of life imprisonment for the three members of the terrorist organization Jemaah Islamiyah held responsible for the explosion that ripped through a LRT train coach on December 30, 2000 and caused the deaths of 11 and wounding of 19 others.   The ruling of the CA Seventh Division came nearly three years after the Manila regional trial court rendered on January 23, 2009 a guilty verdict against Mukhlis Hadji Umpara Yunos, Zainal Paks, and Mohamad Amir for multiple murder, multiple frustrated murder and multiple attempted murder.   On appeal, the CA dismissed the alibi of the convicted terrorists, who said they were in their respective hometowns when the bomb went off.   In its 56-page decision, the appellate court gave weight to the testimonies of witnesses, including Cusain Ramos, who said he helped Yunos, Paks and Amir buy the explosives used to make the bomb.   The CA also raised to P175,000 from P125,000 the amount of civil indemnity and moral and exemplary damages the convicts must pay to the heirs of each of the 11 fatalities.   Yunos was arrested on May 25, 2003 at the Cagayan de Oro airport while Paks and Amir were arrested in Marawi City in August 2004. — ELR, GMA News