DOJ exonerates Lofrancos over Janine murder case

By IMELDA BONIFACIO
July 30, 2007

CATBALOGAN CITY, Samar  –  In a fifty-one page DOJ Joint Resolution dated July 09, 2007, State Prosecutor II Florencio D. dela Cruz, Jr. and 1st Assistant Provincial Prosecutor Fidel A. Macauyag dismissed the cases filed by Mary Jean O. Paulin against Drs. Leo and Grace Lofranco and Jericson D. Tagapan. Dela Cruz and Macauyag, who were designated as Acting Provincial Prosecutors of Catbalogan Samar, as per Department Order No. 105 dated January 29, 2007, decided in favor of the three respondents by dismissing the murder and arson cases filed against them for insufficiency of evidence to indict respondents to the crimes charged.

The decision resolved the complaints for murder and arson filed before the Department of Justice, which were docketed as IS No. 03230-07 and I.S No. 03231-07 respectively. The exoneration was based on the inability of the complainant to positively identify or concretely establish the deliberate involvement of the Lofranco couple and the security guard in the commission of the alleged crimes.

“Paulin’s charges were primarily based on suspicions. It did not gave probative force to the testimony and in itself was insufficient to establish or justify the inference of a particular fact”, the prosecutors tell.  The DOJ specifically found it highly illogical for the Lofrancos to dump the body of the deceased inside their biggest grocery, if indeed they were responsible for her demise.  It also cited of the availability of a wide area in Samar, both land and water, where a victim of a crime could easily be concealed or dumped undetected.

It must be recalled that the sensationalized controversy started when a 14 year old and 2nd year high school student, Candice Janine O. Paulin, was found dead inside the burned Lester Lace Grocery, owned by the Lofranco couple, in Catbalogan Samar last November 14, 2006. The complainant felt that there was impartiality in the initial investigation conducted by the NBI, thus, the assistance of the Western CIDG was solicited. More speculations of an alleged commission of crimes of murder and arson cropped up shortly after Dr. Felino Gualdrapa issued a certification that Janine was already dead three hours before the fire, which was believed to be intentionally set to cover the crime previously committed.

The complainant received even more support and sympathies from various local and national religious and civic organizations, especially after the theorized evidences of the investigation anchored in establishing a love triangle affair or an extra-marital relationship between Dr. Leo Lofranco and the deceased. However, the defense lawyers of the Lofrancos led by Atty. Rolando P. Quimbo, a Catbaloganon, were able to refute all these allegations in a series of presentation of affidavits made by credible witnesses that served as the basis for the DOJs final judgment on the cases.

On the other hand, the Lofrancos, were overwhelmed by the decision. Even at the very start, they were very well confident that a fair and just trial, would exonerate them. On several radio interviews, the couple was heard in their appeals that they be spared from public trial and condemnation and expressed their desire to submit themselves to investigation. “We are also victims in this instance, just like the complainant, thus we also deserve to be heard. We have trust and confidence in the justice system”, the Lofrancos were once quoted.

They are finally glad that they have survived the emotional crisis they went through, the financial losses that their businesses suffered, and the public indignation that the cases has caused on their family. “All we need now is peace of mind. Ayoko na munang magsalita baka iba na naman ang dating nun para sa kabila. Waiting for the resolution to be handed down was really stressful. We’ll leave all the rest of the questions to Atty. Quimbo. We just have to be thankful to everyone who supported us”, was Dr. Grace Lofranco’s humble answer when asked for an interview by this writer.