Court acquits Jennylyn Mercado's assistant in theft case

A Quezon City court on Tuesday acquitted the former personal assistant of actress Jennylyn Mercado on the qualified theft charges filed against her due to the prosecution’s failure to prove her guilt. “Although the court is not certain as to her innocence, it is also not certain to her guilt; hence, it is its duty to acquit her," said Judge Vivencio Baclig of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 77 in his 10-page decision acquitting Rowena “Mel" Pulmano. Mercado accused Pulmano of forging her signature in at least 19 checks amounting to P460,272.84 from June to September 2008. (Read: Jennylyn Mercado's ex-aide faces qualified theft raps) She said as her personal assistant, Pulmano was authorized to take care of her banking matters and to receive all important documents related to her account number at the United Coconut Planters Bank branch along Tomas Morato Avenue. Mercado, in her complaint, said Pulmano “unlawfully and feloniously" issued her UCPB checks to several payees without her knowledge and consent. The prosecution presented at least eight witnesses during the hearing, including Mercado and Childa Chavez, a document examiner who examined the original signature of the actress and the signatures that appeared in the questioned UCPB checks. But during cross-examination, Mercado admitted that she is unsure whether the accused was the one who forged her signature in the checks. Pulmano, on the other hand, denied having issued the alleged forged UCPB checks. In acquitting Pulmano, Baclig said that after careful and thorough review of the evidence presented by the prosecution and the defense, the Court finds that there is no clear evidence to show that the accused actually forged Mercado’s signature on the UCPB checks. “And it has not been established that it was she (accused) alone who had the free access to the complainant's current account with the UCPB Tomas Morato Branch. In other words, there is no direct evidence proving the actual taking of the stolen funds with the bank. The evidence is merely circumstantial and the same is not strong to prove the existence of the crime and the culpability of the accused," Baclig said in his decision. Pulmano, however, will remain in detention at the QC Jail Female Dormitory due to her estafa cases currently pending before QCRTC Branches 88 and 219. Her lawyer, Cornelio Samaniego, said Branch 88 is set to resolve their petition for bail while they are set to post a P60,000 bail with Branch 219. Baclig handed down the decision two days before his 70th birthday, the mandatory retirement age for judges. - KBK, GMANews.TV