Nueva Ecija cop’s conviction over superior’s slay affirmed

MANILA, Philippines — A member of the Nueva Ecija police convicted of murdering his superior 10 years ago has lost his bid to overturn the court’s decision.

The Court of Appeals (CA) affirmed the life sentence imposed on Lt. Bernardo Castro by the Regional Trial Court of Santo Domingo, Nueva Ecija in 2020.

Castro argued that the lower court erred in convicting him of the murder of Brig. Gen. Ricardo Dayag Jr. on Jan. 1, 2011.

The CA said state prosecutors were able to establish the elements of murder in the case.

In his appeal, Castro claimed that he had no intention of killing Dayag and that the witnesses lied.

Records showed that Dayag’s daughter saw him rush out of the police station to look into an incident of indiscriminate firing, but he was shot by Castro.

Dayag died from multiple gunshot wounds in the body. Witnesses said he was shot repeatedly even as he fell on the ground.

“It was established that Dayag was killed as shown in the death certificate. The prosecutor was able to prove that Castro killed the victim. The lower court established that the victim was killed treacherously,” the CA decision read. 

Aside from the life sentence, Castro was ordered to indemnify Dayag’s family P225,000 in damages.