Son of Leviste's victim denies his father was ill-tempered

MANILA, Philippines - The 15-year-old son of the slain aide of former Batangas governor Jose Antonio Leviste on Wednesday belied in court that his father was ill-tempered, a smoker, a heavy drinker, and in a confrontational mood on the day he was shot by Leviste. Taking the witness stand during the resumption of hearing on the murder case filed against Leviste, Rafael de las Alas’ youngest son testified that his father was in a pleasant mood on the day he was shot and killed by Leviste. "My father was his usual self that morning. He ate breakfast with me before driving me to school," the witness told the sala of Judge Elmo Alameda of Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) branch 150. His testimony echoed the earlier statement of De las Alas’ widow, Teresita, that the victim was not in a foul mood when he went to Leviste’s office at the LPL Tower in Legaspi Village in Makati City last January 12, 2007, where the shooting incident took place. De las Alas’ son added that his father cannot be ill-tempered and in an unpleasant mood that day as alleged by Leviste. He said he even saw his father humming old songs he downloaded for his music player. Leviste had earlier claimed that he shot and killed De las Alas in self-defense, saying the victim was out to physically hurt him due to an argument. His lawyers want the court to downgrade the charge from murder to homicide. Dinna de las Alas-Sanchez, daughter of the victim, said she is confident that the court will consider her brother’s testimony. "He is a child and children do not lie. He only said what he knows and so we hope the court will merit my brother's testimony," she said. On the contrary, Leviste said the testimony of the child and that of Teresita will not merit any weight on the case. "The last three hearings have been immaterial and irrelevant. The testimonies of the prosecution witnesses are self-serving and fabrications," Leviste said. "As such, I will have to ask the court to terminate the proceedings since the prosecution is merely dragging the case. I want this case terminates as soon as possible," he added. But according to Senior State Prosecutor Emmanuel Velasco, the prosecution is not delaying the proceeding of the case but is merely exhausting all means to rebut defense allegations. "We are not prolonging the hearing. We are only rebutting the lies of the defense," Velasco said, adding that at least 10 more witnesses will be presented in the next hearings, which are set on May 21 and 28. - GMANews.TV