On Friday, the Court of Appeals (CA) announced the reversal of Superintendent Rafael P. Dumlao III’s acquittal from his involvement in the Jee Ick Joo case in 2016.
Dumalo was previously absolved from the criminal charges filed against him. With the court’s petition penned by the People of the Philippines, the Joint Decision of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Angeles City, was nullified. Stating that the prosecution failed to prove his guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
“The Court of Appeals ruled that the proceedings before the RTC were a sham and an apparent mockery of the judicial process such that Dumlao’s acquittal was a foregone conclusion and in total disregard of the evidence,” the CA said in a statement.
Consequently, Dumlao’s accomplices; Police Chief Master Sergeant Ricky Sta. Isabel, Police Executive Master Sergeant Roy Villegas, and former National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agent Jerry Omlang were convicted by the RTC for homicide, kidnapping and serious illegal detention, and carnapping.
The new ruling concluded that the testimonies of witnesses contradicted the evidence presented, which was sufficient enough to support the conviction against Dumlao’s culpability.
Dumlao was the mastermind behind the killing of South Korean businessman, Jee Ick Joo. According to reports, Joo was killed to silence him on the police extortions of Koreans in Angeles City. The South Korean national was kidnapped and strangled to death by the then-members of the Anti-Illegal Drugs Group during Former President Duterte’s War on Drugs.
The grave incident transpired inside Camp Crame, the headquarters of the Philippine National Police. Joo’s remains were later cremated by a funeral parlor.
Dumlao was sentenced to Reclusion perpetua without the eligibility of parole, a fine of Php350,000 in damages for kidnapping with homicide, Reclusion perpetua and Php225,000 in damages for kidnapping and serious illegal detention; and imprisonment for 30 to 35 years for carnapping.
