ONE of two security personnel implicated in the fatal mauling of a shopper inside Metro Gaisano Colon department store in downtown Cebu City pleaded not guilty to murder charges filed against him.
Wearing a yellow prisoner’s shirt, Jeffrey Aquino was arraigned before Judge Wilfredo Navarro of the Regional Trial Court Branch 19 in Cebu City yesterday morning.
He was assisted by lawyer Salvador Solima who asked the court to allow his client to post bail.
Aquino’s two sisters cried during the proceedings.
The mother and sister of slain shopper Mario Alfie Ducayag were also emotional as the clerk of court read the accusations leveled against Aquino.
“I thought he already pondered about what he did to my brother. Now, he insists that he’s innocent. So let him prove it,” Ducayag’s sister Marie Shantylle told reporters later.
Marie Shantylle said the family is hoping that the second suspect, Mauricio Doblados, will also be arrested by law enforcers so justice will be served.
Although murder is a non-bailable offense, the court may allow Aquino to post bail if evidence against him is not strong.
Otherwise, Aquino shall remain in jail during the trial.
Aquino was a security camera operator of the department store when Ducayag, who bought baby supplies and rubber slippers, was detained by the store’s security department on suspicion of shoplifting.
Aquino was identified by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) as the man who handcuffed and beat up Ducayag.
Doblados, who was then the store’s security officer, was accused of conspiring with Aquino in killing Ducayag.
The case drew much controversy because of initial attempts to mask Ducayag’s death as accidental.
Ducayag , a father of two, was stopped when he couldn’t show a receipt for a pair of Sandugo brand sandals in his shopping bag. He insisted that he already paid for it but had lost the receipt.
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