An ocular inspection was held yesterday at the East View Hotel, where Ilog councilor Antonio “Karem” Gequillana was shot on July 27 last year, to check the veracity of the accounts of witnesses during the pre-trial for the petition for bail filed by the camp of alleged gunman Ryan Gatoc.

Agustus Rallos, the legal counsel of Gatoc, said a former security guard of the hotel who is one of the witnesses said that Gequillana was shot while opening the door of his car, but the trajectory of the bullet apparently shows that the former councilor was shot while walking and was a few meters from his vehicle.

Earlier, the security guard said he saw Gatoc shooting Gequillana because he was four meters away from them, but Rallos said that it would be impossible because the ocular investigation showed there were other vehicles blocking his view from his post.

The other witness, a technician of the hotel, said he saw the shooting incident through the hotel door but he changed his statement, and said he saw the killing through the glass window.

The counsel of the Gequillana family, Lyndon Caña, said that normally, witnesses can only recall about 90 percent of what really happened and the inconsistencies that Rallos noted only showed that their witnesses are spontaneous and not rehearsed,

He said they are optimistic that the petition for bail filed by Gatoc will not be granted as the ocular investigation conducted only proved that their witnesses are telling the truth.

Besides, he said, they have no reason to make up stories against Gatoc. He also said they are watching closely the case of the killing of Judge Henry Arles as they might find something that would shed light on the killing of Gequillana.

Gequillana succumbed to four gunshot wounds while being treated at the Bacolod Doctors’ Hospital.*APN

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