Army readies court martial proceedings vs Durante, 6 soldiers, over Chua-plaza killing
ARMY Commanding General Lt. Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. reported on Thursday that Brig. Gen. Jesus Durante and his six men would undergo court martial proceedings over the killing of Davao City businesswoman and model Yvonnette Chua-plaza.
The police charged Durante, who has been relieved as commander of the 1001st Infantry Brigade, his former deputy, Col. Michael Licyayo, and five other soldiers, on Wednesday with murder over Chua-plaza’s killing.
The Army relieved Durante, L icy a yo and their five subordinates of their posts after the charges were filed beforethe davao city prosecutor’ s office.
Brawner said Durante and his men will face the administrative side of the criminal charges filed against them before a civilian body by way of a court martial proceedings, where, if proven guilty, will drop them from the service and would result in the forfeiture any of their benefits as Army soldiers.
He said the Army would take custody of the soldiers while the civilian court is hearing their criminal cases.
Durante, also former commander of the Presidential Security Group during the term of former President Rodrigo R. Duterte, and Licyayo, have are already been restricted at the headquarters of the Army, while some of the suspects, including the alleged gunman, are with the police. Others suspects are in the custody of the 10th Infantry Division while some others remain at large.
The police charged nine suspects in the killing of Plaza, seven of them soldiers, including Durante, who had been tagged by self-confessed gunman, Sgt. Delfin Sialsa Jr. as the mastermind and who ordered the murder through Licyayo.
Investigators tagged Plaza’s killing as a crime of passion since Durante and Plaza were reportedly into a relationship in the past.
In a radio interview, Brawner assured Durante and his men will not be given special treatment while under the custody of the Army.
“We will not tolerate these kinds of wrongdoings or criminal acts, regardless of the ranks of our soldiers,” Brawner assured. “Officers or enlisted personnel, we will treat them equally.”
“We will have custody over them. We have a Custodial Center, this is also like a detention center, it is possible that they will be held there for safekeeping while the charges against them are being heard,” Brawner added.
The Army chief said a military court would carry out the court martial proceedings against Durante and his men, while the criminal cases will undergo civilian court trial in Davao City.
Since those involved in the killing of Plaza are soldiers and were apparently ordered by Durante through Licyayo, who provided the logistics, Brawner cautioned soldiers to always be discerning of their superiors’ orders and be ready to beg off them when they know such orders were illegal.
He said the soldiers could always report to the headquarters if they have been given directives that they knew are somewhat out of order.
Awaiting for prosecutor’s resolution
DAVAO policemen, meanwhile, said they are awaiting the resolution of the prosecutor’s investigation into the murder of Chua-plaza before it would proceed with effecting the arrest of a Durante and his accomplices.
Chief of Police Col. Alberto Lupaz said Durante and his cohorts have been detained at Army headquarters in Fort Bonifacio pending the resolution of the case filed at the City Prosecution Office.
He said the police would wait for the resolution of the case, which would be followed by the issuance of a warrant of arrest.
Regional Police Commander, Brig. Gen. benjamin si lo jr ., said they would also await the resolution so that his office would also issue a local bulletin leading to a hold departure order when the arrest warrant would be issued.
Lupaz described the incident was a “crime of passion.”
The police’s Special Investigation Task Group has identified Durante as the mastermind of the killing of Plaza, after the hooded gunmen confessed to the killing, pointing at Durante as the one who ordered to kill Chua-plaza.
The police traced and identified the motorcycle-riding gunmen who all turned out to be soldiers under the 1001st Brigade.
The SITG identified the gunmen as Staff Sergeant Gilbert Plaza, the team leader, Corporal Adrian Cashero, motorcycle driver and Private First Class Delfin Sialsa who was seen in a closed circuit television camera as shooting Chua-plaza at close range.
The police also identified Cpl. Longakit and Cpl. Cabal as involved in the case, saying they were assigned to conduct the surveillance on the victim.
The SITG said Sialsa pointed at Durante as the mastermind, and Cashero pointed at Col. Michael Licyayo, deputy brigade commander as the one who pointed to them the location of the victim’s house.
The victim was shot dead on December 29.