Murder raps vs Negros lawmaker junked

BACOLOD CITY , Philippines  – Negros Occidental First District Rep. Melecio Yap has been cleared of the charges filed against him over alleged extrajudicial killings.

San Carlos Regional Trial Court Branch 57 Judge Danilo Amisola dismissed the frustrated murder and three counts of murder filed against Yap for lack of probable cause, Escalante City Prosecutor Ranela de la Fuente said yesterday.

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales approved the filing of the cases against Yap last year in connection with the killing and frustrated murder of the supporters of former Escalante mayor Santiago Barcelona Jr.  Fourteen other persons with alleged ties to the New People’s Army (NPA) were named respondents in the cases.

Renecio Espiritu, Jr. counsel for the complainants, said the decision of Amisola, whom they sought to inhibit from the case, did not come as a surprise. Espiritu said they would exhaust their legal remedies.

Yap maintained his innocence, noting that NPA rebels admitted the killings.