THE Court of Appeals has dismissed the appeal of controversial New Bilibid Prison’s inmate Roy Gilbert Colanggo to be allowed to post bail.
In a decision, the CA’s Fifth Division stressed that it found no merit on Colanggo’s petition for bail since he was already convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment by the Parañaque City Regional Trial Court on May 10, 2013.
Colanggo was the leader of a notorious robbery group involved in several bank robberies in Metro Manila and neighboring provinces in the early 2000 including the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. branch in Cabuyao, Laguna where 10 people were killed.
“We find no merit in accused-appellant’s petition for bail. Considering that bail pending appeal is only discretionary when the applicant is convicted of an offense not punishable by death, reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment, accused-appellant is not eligible to be granted bail as a matter of course,” said the October 6, 2016 decision written by Associate Justice Jose Reyes Jr.
The appellate court rejected Colanggo’s arguments which cited the case of Senator Juan Ponce Enrile who was allowed to post bail by the Supreme Court, despite facing the non-bailable offense of plunder saying that the latter’s case is not applicable since the former lawmaker has not yet been convicted of the case.
“Neither are we swayed by his reliance on the case of Enrile v Sandiganbayan as the factual circumstances of that case do not fall squarely to the case at bench. In the case of Enrile, the applicant for bail had not yet been convicted and was merely awaiting trial,” the appellate court said, adding that unlike Colanggo, Enrile has shown “utter respect for the legal processes of this country.”
The CA also stressed that after one is convicted by the trial court, the presumption of innocence, and with it, the constitutional right to bail, ends adding that as to the strength of the evidence of guilt against him.
It also junked Colanggo’s bid to produce additional evidence adding that it has no basis.
“Finally, considering that a review of a criminal case on appeal opens the whole case for an appellate court’s consideration, we find that there is no need for a reopening of the assailed decision at this point,” the CA ruled.
Associate Justices Stephen Cruz and Ramon Paul Hernando concurred with the ruling.