THE Judicial Court 101 based in Talibon town has granted bail in the amount of P150,000 to Carmelo Nuera Tabada, a barangay councilor in Poblacion, Trinidad, Bohol after his languishing in jail for over a year.
The Omnibus order dated November 29, 2022 in granting the bail is signed by presiding judge Azucena C. Macalolot-Credo.
Tabada is charged criminally in Case No.21-5632, Qualified unlawful possession of firearms and Case No. 21-5633, violation of R. A. 9516 for illegal possession of explosives filed by police authorities.
“It is worthy to note that bail is not granted to prevent the accused from committing additional crimes. The purpose of bail is to guarantee the appearance of the accused at the trial, or whenever so required by the trial court,” the order said.
In granting the bail, the court said that it has consider the fact that the accused is an incumbent barangay official and “he has not shown any inclination to evade court appearance.”
In granting the bail, the court noted that the evidence presented by the prosecution against Tabada “did not show that accused’s guilt is strong.”
“The court noted that as testified by Pat. Balazuela and PCPL Salibay, some members of the raiding team, i.e., PLTCol Estigoy, PEMS Bihag and two (2) members of the PNP SAF, entered the house of the accused prior to the arrival of the civilian witnesses. The act of the searching team will necessarily cast doubt on the regularity of their operation.”
The court said that the raiding team could have easily coordinated with the civilian witnesses in the enforcement of the search warrant which “is a planned activity.”
On the alleged Tabada’s possession of firearm and hand grenade, the court has this to say: “It seemed that it is contrary to ordinary human experience for a hand grenade to be placed at the top edge of a plastic cabinet as well as for 9mm KG9 machine pistol to be placed on top of the foam mattress and under the pillow and for .45 caliber to be placed under the foam mattress, all said to be found in the room of the accused where he and his family sleep together considering the extreme danger that these items would pose upon each of them.”
“The allegation of the prosecution relative to the alleged recovery of the subject firearms and hand grenade can be put to question and close scrutiny.” (rvo)
