CA rejects appeal of Ateneo shooting suspect over carnapping charge
The man accused of killing three people at the Ateneo de Manila University campus in 2022 will continue to face a separate carnapping case after the Court of Appeals rejected his attempt to have the charge folded into his other criminal cases.
In a 15-page decision, the CA Thirteenth Division ruled against Dr. Chao-Tiao Yumol, who had questioned the Regional Trial Court's decision to proceed with a separate case under Republic Act 10883, or the New Anti-Carnapping Act of 2016.
Per the Philippine News Agency, Yumol argued that the alleged taking of a vehicle should not be treated as a separate offense because he only took the car as part of his getaway following the shooting.
The appellate court found the argument unconvincing, pointing to the sequence of events surrounding the alleged offenses. Since Yumol supposedly took the vehicle only after the shooting, the car was not used to carry out the killings themselves.
It also found no grave abuse of discretion on the part of the trial court in refusing to absorb the charge into the murder case.
Yumol's other charges include murder, attempted murder, illegal possession of firearms, and malicious mischief.
Police said Yumol entered the Ateneo campus on July 24, 2022, during the scheduled graduation ceremonies for the College of Law, under the name Ramil Nicodemez, and arrived in a ride-hailing vehicle while carrying two concealed pistols.
Former Lamitan, Basilan Mayor Rosita Furigay, her executive assistant Victor Capistrano, and security guard Jeneven Bandana were killed. The ex-mayor's daughter Hannay and another parent, Julia Manabat, were also wounded.
After the shooting, authorities said Yumol allegedly forced a driver to give up a Honda Civic and used the vehicle to flee before abandoning it at a gas station in Quezon City.
While he tried to escape through a jeepney, authorities eventually intercepted the vehicle and arrested him.
