Man convicted for '05 broadcaster's death

By Karlon Rama, SunStar Cebu

CEBU CITY -- A man charged with murdering a broadcaster in 2005 was sentenced to some 30 years in jail, Tuesday; condemned by a dying declaration, an accusing finger that haunted him from the grave.

Mohammad “Madix” Maulana stood stoic though as the 19-page judgment that found him “guilty beyond reasonable doubt” for the death of Edgar Amoro was read in open court.

“The attack was sudden and unexpected and caused his untimely death,” read the ruling penned by Judge Esther Veloso of the 6th branch of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Cebu City.

It left the family in “unspeakable grief,” the judge said, compelling indemnity reaching P195,000.

Yesterday’s conviction ends close to five years of living under witness protection for the Amoro family and their struggle to successfully prosecute the case which is tied to another media killing, the 2002 murder of Edgar Damalerio.

But the judgment is not yet final and the accused can still contest the ruling at the appellate court and, failing to get a favorable decision there, the High Tribunal.

Moreover, in both the Amoro and Damalerio cases, the masterminds remain at large, never having been impleaded despite the Supreme Court’s transfer of the venue of the trial from Zamobanga del Sur to Cebu City and the media’s close watch.

This is only the sixth successfully prosecuted media killing so far. There have been 137 media deaths according to various journalism groups.

Mortal wounds

Amoro died from gunshot wounds last Feb. 2, 2005, assassinated outside the gates of the Zamboanga del Sur National High School, where he taught while, at the same time, co-hosted a human rights radio program at dxPR in Pagadian City.

According to case records the Office of the Pagadian City Prosecutor sent to the Zamboanga del Sur RTC, Amoro sustained “multiple gunshot wounds in the head and body” and “died instantly.”

The motive for the killing has been directly linked to the May 13, 2002 fatal ambush of Edgar Damalerio, Amoro’s co-host at radio dxPR, which he witnessed.

Amoro’s wife, Erlinda, testified before Veloso that she and her husband received so many death threats following Damalerio’s death that they found it “too numerous to be entered into the police blotter.”

Erlinda hinted that the purpose of the threats was to coerce her husband not to testify against policeman Guillermo “Gimo” Wapile, who he tagged as the shooter in an affidavit to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and to instead point to a certain Ronnie Quilme.

The killing rendered her husband unable to testify in the Damalerio case that was later brought to Cebu City, the first media-killing case to have been heard here upon orders of the Supreme Court, and ended with Wapile’s Nov. 17, 2005 conviction.

Dying declaration

Erlinda said she had just arrived home from the Zamboanga del Sur National High School, where she also taught like her husband, when the shooting took place.

She said her daughter received a call on her mobile phone and suddenly shouted that something had happened to Amoro.

Erlinda said she ran back to school and rushed to the side of her bloodied husband who uttered the name “Madix.”

She said she knew exactly who he meant because Maulana is known in their community as a gun-for-hire. He has a string of murder cases, including one which involved a police officer.

Prior to ruling on the case, Judge Veloso also heard testimony from a policeman who happened to pass by the scene during the shooting and who also got shot at. PO2 Desiderio Pancho, of the 905th Provincial Mobile Group, likewise identified Maulana as the gunman.

Witnesses

Among others, Veloso also heard the testimony of SPO1 Marcelo Quevedo, the police officer who investigated the murder and who found one witness that got a good look of the killer.

The witness subsequently described the assailant to an artist and a sketch matching the description of Maulana was obtained.

The defense also presented their own witnesses, including Maulana, and tried to impress the court that Maulana was nowhere near the crime scene at the time the murder took place.

They said Maulana was in the town of Dinas, two hours away from Pagadian City, attending his younger sister’s wedding.

Maulana himself denied the allegations in the witness stand, adding that while he was tagged for crimes in the past, he was never convicted.

Weak defense

Declaring that alibi is a weak defense, Veloso pointed out that Dinas and Pagadian were only two hours away and that Maulana, theoretically, could be at one place and then quickly move to the other.

Besides, there was Amoro’s dying declaration.

Maulana, through his lawyer, said no declaration could have happened because the case records said he died instantaneously.

Veloso however clarified that “there was nothing in the testimony of the doctor (Samuel Mendero of the Pagadian City Medical Center) to indicate that the victim died immediately.”

“The doctor was never asked if death was instantaneous, considering the gunshot wounds the victim sustained,” she said.

Moreover, she added, the defense was not able to discredit or put into doubt that Amoro the broadcaster did expose his killer’s name.

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