By Christopher Lloyd T. Caliwan
MANILA, Aug. 6 (PNA) — A member of the Special Action Force (SAF), earlier implicated in the Makati City bus blast, which killed five persons and wounded 18 others on Jan. 25, 2011, was acquitted by a local court after no proof beyond reasonable doubt was found to implicate the former.
Cleared in Judge Carlito Calpatura’s 22-page decision was P02 Arnold Mayo.
The latter was earlier charged with multiple murder and multiple frustrated murder.
“With a cloud of doubt continuously bothering the mind of this Court, its conscience cannot rest easy on a conviction,” the court said.
“With utmost care and conscientious effort in the scrutiny of the records, testimonies of the witness, evidence adduced and proven facts, the court is not convinced with moral certainty that the accused, Mayo, is guilty of the crime,” it added.
Mayo was positively identified by the bus conductor as the one who boarded the Newman Goldliner bus with a backpack shortly before it exploded.
However, the court said the bus conductor’s identification cannot be considered as proof beyond reasonable doubt of Mayo as one of the perpetrators of the crime.
It also stressed that no piece or fragment of any bag was ever recovered nor submitted in evidence. (PNA)