MANILA – A lower court in Metro Manila on Wednesday convicted the former husband of a senator and sentenced him to a maximum jail sentence of 12 years for the high-profile killing of a close friend and business associate in 2007.
Convicted by the Regional Trial Court of suburban Makati City, Metro Manila was businessman Antonio Leviste, the former husband of incumbent opposition Senator Loren Legarda.
Leviste, also the former governor of Batangas province in Southern Luzon, is a businessman who is known to have extensive real estate holdings not only in Metro Manila but also in several areas in Luzon.
The court found Leviste guilty beyond reasonable doubt for shooting to death his close friend and business associate, Rafael delas Alas, during a heated altercation inside their office in Makati exactly two years ago on January 14, 2007.
In a 30-page decision, the court imposed the penalty of a minimum jail term of at least six years and a maximum of 12 years.
Leviste escaped a heavier penalty when the court reduced the criminal complaint from murder to homicide.
The court explained the prosecution failed to establish treachery and premeditation which are deemed as essential elements to the crime of murder.
Aside from the jail sentence, the court also ordered Leviste to pay a total of the equivalent of more than $2,000 representing moral and exemplary damages to the family of Delas Alas.
Leviste, who was present in court, received the decision calmly and said he and his lawyers would definitely ask the court to reconsider its decision.
He also said that if the lower court would reject their appeal, they would elevate the case to the Court of Appeals.
The prosecution welcomed the plan of Leviste to appeal the decision, saying it will give them the chance to prove that the Makati court erred when it reduced the case from murder to homicide.
During the trial, Leviste claimed he shot and killed Delas Alas in self-defense during a heated altercation inside his office located in a building which he owns in Makati City on January 14, 2007.
Leviste claimed their quarrel arose when Delas threatened to kill him if he did not agree to the victim’s demand to pay him about $20,000 representing the alleged commission he had earned from a real estate deal.
However, the Delas Alas family insisted that Leviste killed the victim in cold blood, citing his alleged violent streak whenever he was angry as what had happened during his heated altercation with the victim in 2007.
When contacted, Senator Loren Legarda said “justice prevailed†following his conviction for homicide for the killing of Delas Alas.
Legarda, who has two sons by Leviste, revealed their marriage was annulled long before the murder case was filed in court against Leviste in 2007.
Legarda, who announced she is running for president in the May 2010 elections, also expressed the hope that her political rivals would not use the conviction of Leviste as an issue against her.
In the latest survey held in late 2008 by the prestigious polling group Social Weather Stations (SWS), Legarda landed a close second to Vice President Noli de Castro as the “best leader to succeed President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo†in 2010.
The SWS reported that De Castro got the nod 31 percent of the 1,500 respondents, with Legarda a close second at 28 percent, followed by former Senate president Manuel Villar with 27 percent.
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ang eng eng ko talaga. ngayon ko lang na realize na asawa ni loren yang leviste na yan, o sa tingin ko e nalimutan ko na lang, hehe
kahit mabagal, may hustisya pa rin sa atin di ba? o ayan, kaya naman sabi ko e may pag asa talagang gumanda pa rin ang pinas.
Haha. Yeah, he’s Loren’s “former” hubby. I still believe there’s still justice in our country. Whether one would get it in his lifetime, or on the next, justice, eventually will be served.
Salamt sa pagbisita Ms. Kengkay.