Chief Justice Renato Corona was asked to look into the delay in the resolution of a murder case which has been pending before the Court of Appeals for 10 years now, and raffled off to 16 justices already.

In a letter to Corona, Alfredo Cusit, Jr. complained that the case of his brother’s murder still remains unsolved up to now as CA justices, for no known reason, inhibited themselves and refused to handle the case.

Cusit recounted that his brother, Edwin Cusit, and two others were murdered  on May 8, 1995 in front of a precinct in Barangay San Isidro, Buguey, Cagayan, by Licerio Antiporda III, son of then Mayor Licerio Antiporda, Jr.

On May 4, 2001, Antiporda was found guilty by Judge Teresa Soriano of the Regional Trial Court of Manila City for the killing of Cusit and two others identified as Johnny Alonzo and Ben Maggudayao.

On January 23, 2002, the CA affirmed the lower court’s ruling in a decision penned by Associate Justice Bienvenido Reyes.

But five days later, Justice Reyes recalled his decision, claiming that he is not the assigned ponente of the case and that his job was only to complete the records and endorsed the case for re-raffle.

Since then, Cusit said his brother’s case had been transferred from one justice to another. He noted that the justices either declined or inhibited from the case for various reasons.

The case is now with Associate Justice Edwin Sorongon.

“It has been 16 years since my brother and two others were murdered. It took the RTC judge six years to make a decision. For the last ten years, the case has been moving around the salas of seventeen justices of the Court of Appeals,” Cusit lamented.

Antiporda, according to Cusit, is on bail and now the elected mayor of Buguey. Cusit said he and his relatives are worried about their safety, prompting them to leave their hometown.