4/15/2021
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the Chief Engineer, Leo Odio, seafarers Richard Lamug, Deneb Jake
Alcantara and Dennis Tinaja. These persons attested that Manuel did not
sound calm or stable at all, but that he was fearful that somebody was going
to kill him.
The seamen continued that Manuel's room remained locked, so that none of
them could enter the same. On 8 October 2013, Manuel was offered food
which he declined, after which he refused to talk to anyone. His companions
knocked but received no reply; later in the day, following Manuel's
continuous silence, the crew forced their way in the hospital room but found
it unlocked.
As to Manuel's demise, We can infer from the statements of Rolando
Leonardo, the Chief Officer, and the Chief Engineer the grim circumstances
thereof. These officers corroborate each other’s statements that having
discovered that Manuel was no longer in the room, they found the hospital
restroom locked; with their co-workers, they then peered into a ventilation
whereupon Engineer Ohio beheld Manuel "standing motionless with a small
nylon rope tied on his neck and hanging to the Hat's hooks." Leonardo's
words paint a starker picture, as he was able to describe that "Manuel's
tongue is already outside of his mouth about 1 cm and his hands almost
violet." The crew members then forced the door open and took Manuel's
body down.
These employees’ statements
Investigative Report immediately
managed to dock on October 18,
correspondence with the Medical
taking down Manuel’s body.
are corroborated by the meticulous
conducted by two lawyers when the ship
2013, by the Log Book Entries and email
Office, and the photographs of the crew
Lingering doubts are then dispelled by the final Post Mortem Report dated 7
December 2013, executed by one Dr. Rohan Ruwanpura, a Judicial Medical
Officer in Sri Lanka, x x x.
The Report concluded that Manuel died from asphyxia due to hanging and
informed that there were no injuries present upon Manuel's body.
Significantly, all these - that Manuel had isolated himself, that no one else
entered the rooms wherein he had concealed his person, that he had no
other injuries, and that he was later found hanging – make foul play or any
other conclusion implausible.[100]
However, according to the petitioner, the documentary submissions of the respondents
cannot be believed for they lacked probative value since they are mere photocopies.
She also alludes to a certain police investigation report of the harbor authorities in
Galle, Sri Lanka that proves the circumstances of the death of Manuel but which she
claims respondents suppressed. Thus, for the petitioner, the CA erred when it sets aside
the ruling of the Panel which found that no adequate evidence exists to prove that
Manuel committed suicide.
https://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/66237
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