The family of the late Fr. Antonio Magalso of the Diocese of Dumaguete, who was stabbed dead by a parishioner, will commemorate his sixth death anniversary this month with hearts filled with the hope of finally obtaining peace and closure after the perpetrator was meted with life imprisonment last July.
“We have already forgiven him (the accused). But we were determined to seek justice for our beloved brother-priest, and so we are happy that the court has finally sentenced his attacker to spend the rest of his life in jail,” Gina Magalso Noval, the sister of the late priest, said in mixed English and Cebuano dialect in an interview over the weekend.
Noval said their prayers, faith, and patience paid off when the court finally ruled on the murder case against respondent, Dionisio Rodriguez Tejamo.
As this developed, Dumaguete Bishop Julito Cortes on Monday said the diocese will look into ways of offering a healing journey for the perpetrator.
On Sept. 29, 2015, Fr. Tony, as known to many, then the priest in charge of the Holy Cross Parish in Barangay Sta. Cruz Viejo, Tanjay City, about an hour’s drive from here, was scheduled to say mass at 10 a.m. during the village’s fiesta at the newly constructed chapel in Sitio Nagsala.
Court records show that Magalso arrived at the chapel grounds on a motorcycle together with a back rider around 9:45 a.m. shortly before the incident.
His back rider, a certain Vernie, and another parishioner, Fernando E. Villaflor, went ahead to the chapel while the priest was parking his motorcycle at a shaded area nearby.
Shortly thereafter, the two heard a loud thud behind them and when they looked back, saw the priest already on the ground.
Villaflor, who later became the main witness in the murder case, told investigators and the court that as they rushed over to Magalso and he saw Tejamo pulling out a knife from the back of the fallen priest.
Tejamo fled as parishioners took Magalso on board a truck to the Holy Child Hospital in this capital city, where he was pronounced dead on arrival due to multiple stab wounds.
Police investigation showed a 12-inch knife was used to stab the priest.
Tanjay police personnel arrested Tejamo several hours later at his home, but he initially denied the allegation, saying he would not mind killing another person as he already killed one that day, the court records showed.
Noval said that her brother may have been a victim of mistaken identity, as what the perpetrator later claimed.
Tejamo said he mistook Fr. Tony for the previous parish priest, Fr. Dexter Pomada, who allegedly refused to hold a Holy Mass for his son who committed suicide five years earlier. Tejamo claimed not knowing about the reshuffling of priests’ assignments.
Magalso, who was 44 at the time, and a priest for about 15 years then, was assigned to the Sta. Cruz Viejo parish sometime in May 2014, his sister, Noval, said.
She said that while the promulgation was held last July 15 via virtual conference of all parties involved, it was just recently that they received the hard copy of the decision due to the limitations brought about by the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
Judge Christine M. Tabasuares-Aba, presiding judge of Regional Trial Court Branch 43 where the criminal case for murder was filed against Tejamo, penned the five-page decision.
Noval said Tejamo has never shown any remorse, not during the time that the family saw him in court during the early days of the trial, and even during the virtual promulgation proceedings.
“He never said sorry to us. He never even said a word at all and would not look us in the face,” she said, noting that their family never relented to a move to downgrade the charges to homicide as they sought justice.
“Even though we know the court sentence will not bring back our brother to life, justice has been served and we thank God, the main witness, the bishop and clergy, parishioners, relatives, and friends, who supported us and journeyed with us all throughout these years,” Noval said.
Aside from giving the sentence of reclusion perpetua to Tejamo, the court also asked him to pay moral and exemplary damages, and other penalties, but Noval said the family is not expecting the accused of being capable of paying these as he appears to have no source of income and his family had already left him.
The family of the slain priest will mark his sixth year death anniversary on Sept. 29 at his burial site in Barangay Bonawon, Sta. Catalina, their hometown.
Noval said their brother, the youngest of 13 siblings, served faithfully in his priestly ministry and his death left a void in their hearts.
Meanwhile, Cortes, in an interview on Monday, said he has asked one of the priests to visit the perpetrator in the detention facility to start “a journey of healing”.
“I am personally relieved that finally, a decision came and now is the time to extend an invitation for healing to that person who is the perpetrator of the crime,” Cortes said.
“Dili man nato siya mapasagdan (we cannot leave him on his own) and now is the time to reach out to him and see how we can help him,” he added.
Source: Philippines News Agency