"Those saying it's self defense won't pass the Bar"
Read more: Gabriel Pabico Lalu (April 24, 2020). Comelec exec: Law students who say shooting of ex-soldier was self defense won’t pass Bar Read more: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1263897/comelec-exec-law-students-who-say-shooting-of-ex-soldier-was-self-defense-wont-pass-bar.Lawyer and Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon said this as several people in social media — including aspiring lawyers — have voiced their opinion on the incident in Pasong Putik, Quezon City where a police officer gunned down an ex-Army officer for supposedly trying to draw a gun. She said that law students who believe that a Quezon City police’s shooting of a former soldier was an act of self-defense are fools and would not pass the Bar exams.
Several netizens explained that Police Mst. Sgt. Daniel Florendo only shot former Army Cpl. Winston Ragos on grounds that the former was in danger — even if the police officer fired two shots.
Commissioner Guanzon may be correct in saying this because the Supreme Court held in 2018 in the case of People v. Enrique Reyes that even the act of approaching another while holding a gun is not enough aggression to invoke self defense. In other words, the Supreme Court clarified that the gun must be pointed at the accused (the one killing) with intent to shoot. (G.R. No. 224498, January 11, 2018)
READ: SC: KILLING SOMEONE HOLDING A GUN IS NOT SELF DEFENSE; IT MUST BE AIMED.
Read more: Gabriel Pabico Lalu (April 24, 2020). Comelec exec: Law students who say shooting of ex-soldier was self defense won’t pass Bar Read more: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1263897/comelec-exec-law-students-who-say-shooting-of-ex-soldier-was-self-defense-wont-pass-bar.
“Who are those law students saying it was self defense? Mga #Shunga u will not pass the Bar #BawalAngShunga,” Guanzon said in a tweet.
Guanzon explained that Ragos’ act of allegedly drawing a gun cannot be accounted as “unlawful aggression” he neither pointed the gun towards Florendo nor did he open fire. She said that the first shot itself could already be considered murder as no gun was pointed against Florendo.
“The video will be the best evidence. The deceased did not have a gun and did not point a gun at the policeman. That pulis should have been arrested or in custody immediately after he killed (Ragos),” Guazon said.
The Supreme Court would agree with Commissioner Guanzon because it has been held:
Unlawful aggression is an actual physical assault, or at least a threat to inflict real imminent injury, upon a person. The test for the presence of unlawful aggression is whether the victim's aggression placed in real peril the life or personal safety of the person defending himself. The danger must not be an imagined or imaginary threat. Accordingly, the confluence of these elements of unlawful aggression must be established by the accused, to wit: (a) there must be a physical or material attack or assault; (b) the attack or assault must be actual, or at least imminent; and (c) the attack or assault must be unlawful. (G.R. No. 224498, January 11, 2018)“First shot was murder, since no unlawful aggression sa part ni Winston Ragos.wala syang baril na tinutok kay Daniel Floredo (he did not point any gun at Daniel Florendo),” she added. "The video will be the best evidence. The deceased did not have a gun and did not point a gun at the policeman . That pulis should have been arrested or in custody immediately after he killed Rayos. In a fair fight wala syang laban kay Rayos." https://t.co/ytu30jOv1o.
Read more: Gabriel Pabico Lalu (April 24, 2020). Comelec exec: Law students who say shooting of ex-soldier was self defense won’t pass Bar Read more: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1263897/comelec-exec-law-students-who-say-shooting-of-ex-soldier-was-self-defense-wont-pass-bar.
