Manila: The Court of Appeals (CA) has dismissed the appeal filed by Doctor Chao-Tiao Yumol, who was charged with carnapping in connection with the July 2022 mass shooting at the Ateneo de Manila University campus. The incident resulted in the deaths of three individuals, including former Lamitan, Basilan Mayor Rosita Furigay.

According to Philippines News Agency, the CA's Thirteenth Division published a 15-page decision online on Monday, rejecting Yumol's petition. Yumol had contested the filing of separate charges for violating RA 10883, the New Anti-Carnapping Act of 2016, arguing that the carnapping should be merged with the other charges against him, which include murder, attempted murder, illegal possession of firearms, and malicious mischief. Yumol claimed that he only commandeered the vehicle to facilitate his escape after the shootings.

The court addressed Yumol's argument by stating, "In the present case, once it is granted that the taking of the motor vehicle occurred only after the shooting to facilitate his escape-as petitioner here hypothetically admits-then the said vehicle could not have been the means the murders were committed. Consequently, no grave abuse of discretion may be imputed to the RTC in rejecting petitioner's claim that the carnapping charge should be absorbed in, or treated merely as a qualifying circumstance to, the murder charge."

Yumol had a history with Furigay, who had ordered the closure of his clinic in Basilan in 2018. On July 24, 2022, Yumol entered the Ateneo campus under the alias Ramil Nicodemez, armed with two concealed pistols, during the College of Law graduation ceremonies where Furigay's daughter was a graduate.

After the shooting, Yumol fled by commandeering a Honda Civic sedan at gunpoint. He was chased by Raffy Degones, who was on a motorcycle and was subsequently struck by the car Yumol was driving. Yumol abandoned the vehicle at a gas station along Aurora Boulevard in Quezon City and attempted to escape using a modern jeepney, leading to his arrest when the vehicle was flagged down.

The shooting claimed the lives of Rosita Furigay, a security guard named Jeneven Bandana, and Furigay's executive assistant, Victor Capistrano. Among the injured were Hannay Furigay, the former mayor's daughter, and another parent, Julia Manabat.

In a tragic turn of events, days after the shooting, Yumol's father, Rolando, was shot dead by two unidentified men on a motorcycle in front of his house in Basilan.