APO frat man in bar exam blast charged

THE Department of Justice yesterday ordered the indictment of a member of the Alpha Phi Omega fraternity in connection with the bloody Bar exam blast outside the De La Salle University in Manila.

In a 21-page resolution, government prosecutors found probable cause to charge Anthony Nepomuceno with multiple frustrated murder, multiple attempted murder, and illegal possession of explosive.

The DoJ junked the alibi of Nepomuceno that he was not at the La Salle premises when the bombing took place.

“However, respondent in this case failed to prove that it was physically impossible for him to be at the place of the crime when the crime happened,” the DoJ stated.

It added that Nepomuceno’s submission of a photocopy of a receipt issued by an automated teller machine was not sufficient to support his claim that he was not at the crime scene.

The DoJ noted that the accused failed to prove that the receipt belonged to his account and that the date and time indicated in the receipt is Sept. 26, 2010 at exactly 19:49:29 or 7:49 p.m.

The bombing occurred at 5:10 p.m., thus, there was a two-hour window from the commission of the crime and the issuance of the ATM receipt.

“Considering that the scene of the crime is at Taft Avenue, Manila, which is more or less 20 kilometers away from Baranka, Marikina, then, it is not physically impossible for the respondent to be at the scene of the crime when the crime was committed, because his alibi of being in Marikina City happened only two hours after the crime was committed,” the DoJ ruled.

Government prosecutors also did not give weight to the affidavits of witnesses submitted by Nepomuceno considering they are either members of his family, friends or fraternity brothers and sisters.

Nepomuceno, a call center agent, was presented by Vice President Jejomar Binay, an elder in the APO fraternity, to belie reports that they were protecting the suspect.

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