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CEBU CITY, Philippines – The eyewitness in the 2007 killing of former Sta. Fe mayor Rogelio Ilustrisimo Sr. was brought Tuesday to the scene of the crime inside the Capitol compound to pinpoint his exact location when he saw the gunman.
Taxi driver Garner Cole brought the defense and prosecution panels, Judge Ester Veloso and some of the court staff to an area near the Comelec office, to the right side of the road facing the Capitol gates.
He said his taxicab stopped here when he heard gunshots while passing by the Comelec office.
According to Cole, he saw former policeman Arnulfo Pigon standing under the Mango tree. He said Pigon later raised his sunglasses over his head and ran towards the gate on the left side of the Comelec office.
Cole said there used to be a gate on what is now a vacant lot.
The prosecutors requested for the ocular inspection to prove the credibility of Cole's claim that he was 50 meters away from where Pigon stood when he shot Ilustrisimo. This detail was not in Cole's affidavit.
But during the inspection, it was established that the distance between Cole and from where Pigon stood was less than 20 meters.
Cole earlier told the court that he was scared because it was his first time to be summoned as a witness in a criminal case.
Cole said he failed to confirm Pigon's identity as the gunman during last week's cross-examination because he was scared.
Cole claimed that he was dropping off a passenger near the Comelec office when he heard gunfire.
He said he saw a man, whom he later identified as Pigon, shooting at another man on May 2, 2007. /Reporter Hayde D. Quiñanola
