THE Court of Appeals (CA) has upheld the acquittal of three former Stradcom officials in the 2010 forcible takeover of the company’s compound, noting the prosecution's failure to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accused directly ordered or induced violence against the firm's security guards.
In a 14-page decision promulgated on July 31, the CA’s 14th Division dismissed the petition challenging the acquittal of Aderito Yujuico, Bonifacio Sumbilla, and Rodolfo Millare.
The case stemmed from a violent Dec. 9, 2010, takeover of the Stradcom premises inside the Land Transportation Office (LTO) compound along East Avenue in Quezon City.
At the time, Stradcom was the private information technology provider operating and maintaining the LTO’s computerized systems. Its facilities housed critical infrastructure for the agency’s public services.
The dispute erupted amid a bitter corporate power struggle between rival groups claiming control of Stradcom.
Prosecutors said armed personnel wearing uniforms of Unilateral Security Agency entered the compound, disarmed and overpowered guards from Butler Security and Investigation Agency, and forcibly removed them from their posts.
The takeover allegedly prevented Stradcom employees from freely entering or leaving the facility and kept technicians responsible for the LTO database outside. The disruption temporarily affected the processing of LTO transactions.
The occupation ended after then-Transportation and Communications secretary Jose de Jesus ordered the group evicted from the premises.
The Metropolitan Trial Court (MTC) initially convicted Yujuico, Sumbilla, and Millare of grave coercion, sentencing each to imprisonment and a fine.
The MTC treated them as principals by direct inducement, pointing among other things to Sumbilla’s execution of a security contract with Unilateral and the presence of the three men inside the compound during the takeover.
But the Regional Trial Court (RTC) reversed the convictions in 2020, finding that the prosecution failed to establish that the three had ordered, instigated, or induced the forcible acts committed against the Butler guards.
The petitioner challenged the acquittal before the Court of Appeals, arguing that the evidence — taken together — showed the men’s active participation in the takeover.
The prosecution cited Sumbilla’s engagement of Unilateral, the men’s presence inside the compound, CCTV footage, and testimony that Yujuico was seen pointing toward Unilateral guards “as if commanding them.” The Office of the Solicitor General likewise argued that these circumstances, together with an earlier attempt to gain control of the premises, showed a deliberate and coordinated effort to seize Stradcom.
The Court of Appeals, however, said the evidence fell short of the stringent standard required to establish direct inducement.
Under Article 17 of the Revised Penal Code, a person may be considered a principal by inducement only when the inducement is deliberate, direct, and effective enough to become the determining cause of the crime.
The court said Sumbilla’s security contract with Unilateral showed only that he engaged the agency to provide security services.
It does not establish, the CA said, that Sumbilla instructed the guards to overpower, strike, disarm, or forcibly eject the Butler personnel.
The court rejected the argument that the three men’s presence inside the compound proved their criminal participation.
They were seen there only after the Unilateral personnel had already gained control of the premises and the Butler guards had been subdued, the CA noted.
The court was particularly unconvinced by the testimony that Yujuico pointed toward the Unilateral guards “as if commanding them.” The witness did not hear Yujuico issue any instruction or identify what specific act he supposedly ordered, the CA said.
The Court of Appeals said an earlier attempt to take control of the premises did not bridge the evidentiary gap.
“An intention to assume corporate control must not be conflated with an intention to commit grave coercion,” the court stressed. WILLIAM DEPASUPIL
