In an 11-page order, Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes granted the motion of the prosecution panel to discharge suspect Esmael Canapia, who is among the 197 people initially tagged in the massacre.
“It cannot be said that Canapia actually participated in the killing only because he was caught with a freshly-fired firearm,” read the order.
“No evidence, documentary or testimonial, was ever adduced to show that (1) he was the one who used the firearm; (2) he was present at the crime scene; (3) the same gun was used in shooting the victims; and (4) he was the one who fired the gun during the killing,” it added.