Marvin Marcos, cop in Rolando Espinosa slay case, granted bail

A Leyte court has granted bail to Supt. Marvin Marcos and allowed one of the 19 police officers accused in the killing of Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa and another inmate in November last year to walk out of detention.

A court source on Friday said Judge Carlos Arguelles of the Baybay City Regional Trial Court Branch 14 granted the bail plea of Marcos who, along with other accused, had successfully convinced the Department of Justice (DOJ) to overturn the murder charges.

It was not immediately clear how much was paid for Marcos' temporary release and whether other policemen have already applied for bail.

The court set the arraignment for June 21.

Sought for comment, the camp of Espinosa's son, self-confessed drug distributor and private complainant Kerwin Espinosa, said they were not aware of the court's order.

"I am not aware. I filed an opposition (to the motion against downgrading the charges) and was heard last Wednesday. I'm still waiting for the resolution," said lawyer Leilani Villarino.

"We disagree with the resolution of the reviewing prosecutor in downgrading the murder charges to homicide. We will be insisting that the sworn statements of the witnesses together with the forensic evidences gathered by the National Bureau of Investigation are sufficient to find probable cause to indict these police officers with murder," she added.

The development came after the court granted the DOJ's plea last week to dismiss the murder charges and indict the 19 policemen for homicide instead.

Justifying the dismissal of murder charges, the DOJ said in its May 29 resolution that the "evidence on record do not support the allegation of evident premeditation."

"The record is bereft of any showing as to when the respondents conceived the plan and as to what they would commit the crime. Not even a single affidavit or statements will corroborate said allegations," stated the resolution issued by Justice Undersecretary Reynante Orceo.

With the absence of any evidence, the DOJ said it was "gravely erroneous" for the panel of prosecutors to conclude that the policemen carried out the killings "under the pretense of implementing a search warrant."

The DOJ also gave credence to the results of paraffin tests where Espinosa and fellow inmate Raul Yap tested positive for gunpowder residue.

The resolution added motive is never considered an element of murder.

For the DOJ, the admission of Chief Inspector Leo Laraga and SPO4 Juanito Duarte that they killed Espinosa and Yap in the course of implementation of the search warrants was enough to indict them for homicide.

As for the rest of the cops, the DOJ said their "active participation during the operation, notwithstanding the absence of any plan to kill the two victims, can already be classified as part of conspiracy that led to the killing of the victims."

Espinosa and Yap died after allegedly putting up a fight against policemen serving search warrants for gun possession and illegal drugs inside the Leyte Sub-Provincial Jail in Baybay City last November 5.

However, questions swirled about why a search warrant had to be served on someone who was already behind bars and without proper coordination with jail guards.

The hard drive containing the CCTV footage inside the cell is also missing.

Espinosa's death became the subject of a Senate inquiry, where allegations of a rubout came to fore against the Leyte policemen.

The National Bureau of Investigation then filed criminal complaints before the DOJ which ruled that the accused policemen had conspired to kill Espinosa and Yap.

The accused policemen are currently detained at the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group jail facility in Tacloban City. —NB, GMA News