Teen gets 17 years for doctor's murder

BACOLOD CITY – One of the two teenagers who killed Bacolod-based physician Andres Gumban last May was sentenced to an imprisonment of up to 17 years and one day by the Regional Trial Court here Tuesday.

The 16-year-old accused, a resident of Cadiz City, Negros Occidental, was charged for murder along with his 18-year-old companion Fof Pascual, who is still undergoing trial.

In his eight-page decision, RTC Branch 41 Judge Ray Alan Drilon sentenced the minor from 10 years and one day to 17 years and one day and also ordered him to pay the heirs of Gumban P75,000 in civil indemnity.

The decision stated that the accused entered a voluntary guilty plea   during his arraignment on July 2, 2012 in the presence of his lawyer Christine Umahag of the Public Attorney’s Office. It added that finding enough evidence of guilt against the accused, the court finds him guilty beyond reasonable doubt.

For being a minor, the accused’s sentence was suspended in accordance with the provisions of Republic Act 9344 or the Juvenile Justice Welfare Act.

A member of the Gumban family said they will not comment on the verdict yet because the other suspect is still undergoing trial.

Drilon set a disposition conference on the minor’s verdict on January 18 to discuss the conditions he needs to abide with during his upcoming  detention at the Regional Youth Rehabilitation Center in Guimaras.

The pre-trial hearing for Pascual will be held on March 18 next year.

The minor suspect is still detained at the Social Development Center while Pascual, at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology District Jail, both in Bacolod.

Gumban, 63, a pulmonologist who was also engaged in a number of businesses in Bacolod, sustained about 35 stab wounds, based on the autopsy report.

The suspects took a mobile phone video of the killing inside the victim’s house in Regent Pearl Subdivision, Barangay Alijis.

The video, which runs for five  minutes and 18 seconds, showed Gumban still alive doing household chores after which one of the suspects hit him on the head and the two eventually killed him.*