No closure yet for Maguindanao massacre 58th victim’s kin

MANILA — Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes’ 761-page decision on the Maguindanao massacre on Thursday said there was not enough proof to convict the accused for the supposed 58th victim, Midland Review photojournalist Reynaldo “Bebot” Momay.

“Mere allegation and speculation is not evidence, and is not equivalent to proof,” Reyes said in the case of Momay, who was confirmed to have boarded the news vans in the ill-fated convoy but whose body was never recovered.

“Regrettably, the court is not convinced. For a testimony to be credited, the testimony should not only come from the mouth of a credible witness, it should likewise be credible and reasonable in itself. It must be consistent with human experience, and occurring in the normal course of things,” Reyes said of the testimony offered by the prosecution in Momay’s case.

A piece of denture, recovered more than a week after the incident on Dec. 1, 2009, by investigators from the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and the Scene of the Crime Operation (SOCO) was offered by the prosecution with the newsman’s common-law wife positively identifying the item as belonging to Momay.

“The court finds that the probative value of the denture does not lead to the aforesaid conclusions. First, the prosecution unsuccessfully established that the denture belonged to Momay,” the court said.

The court also said the testimony of his live-in partner, Marivic Bilbao, that she cleaned the denture every day for six years since 2003, which led her to believe that it belonged to Momay, is an implausible narrative.

“Who would ever clean every day the denture of a loved one or live-in partner when the latter is not physically incapable of cleaning it himself/herself? Is it a normal human behavior? The court can only surmise that Bilbao resorted to this kind of narration in order to convince it of her ability to identify said denture as belonging to Momay,” the court added.

Another witness said Momay was inside a van with victims Bong Reblando, Andy Teodoro, Joy Duhay, Rey Merisco, Nap Salaysay, Ronie Perante and others on the day of the incident.