By The SUN
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| Still shot from the last incident in which Bondoc was accosted while loitering outside the Consulate |
Filipino resident Ronald B. Bondoc, 42, was sentenced to a
total of 10 weeks in jail after being found guilty after trial of three
offences, including issuing a threat over the telephone to burn down the
Consulate offices and hurt its staff.
Magistrate Leona Chan Pui-man imposed the sentence earlier
today, Monday, despite Bondoc’s plea for him to be allowed to render community
service instead of being put behind bars.
“I am willing to go for community service because somebody
has to take care of them (my family),” Bondoc said, who had to do his own
mitigation after dispensing with his defense counsel from the Duty Lawyer
Service.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE! |
The magistrate replied that this was not viable, as she
intended to impose a custodial sentence on him. But she acknowledged receiving
a letter from Bondoc’s live-in partner asking for leniency.
Bondoc's partner attended court along with her baby whom
she delivered only yesterday, as well as two social workers. She sobbed and
said a faint “yes” when the magistrate asked if she intended to ask for social
welfare assistance for herself and her children.
The couple has an elder daughter, who is 15 months old.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
Magistrate Chan sentenced Bondoc to eight weeks
in jail for the first charge of criminal intimidation. She noted that the
accused had repeatedly issued the threat to burn down the Consulate and hurt
its staff, particularly, “Arnel,” in a telephone call lasting more than an hour
on Jan 22 last year.
However, taking note of his family’s circumstances, she
exercised her discretion to reduce this to six weeks’ imprisonment, as “an act
of leniency.”
For the second charge of common assault which stemmed from
Bondoc going to the Consulate on Jan 24, 2022 armed with a golf club, and then grabbing
a staff member by the neck before pushing him to the ground, the magistrate
imposed a sentence of four weeks in jail.
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Two weeks of this sentence will have to be served concurrently,
and the other two weeks, consecutively, to the first sentence of six weeks in
jail.
Magistrate Chan noted that the Consulate personnel was not
seriously hurt in the incident, even if Bondoc had purposely armed himself with a golf
club at the time of the incident.
Another four weeks’ imprisonment was added to his sentence
for the third charge of loitering causing concern, which happened on March 28,
2022.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
The court noted that Bondoc’s act was premeditated, as he had
brought along a metal bar when he hung around the lift lobby of the Consulate
before being taken away by the police.
Two weeks of this sentence were to be served consecutive to
the previous sentences, making a total of 10 weeks’ imprisonment.
In closing, the magistrate she would use her discretion in
ordering that social welfare assistance be extended further to Bondoc’s family.
Before sentencing, the magistrate said she had taken note of
Bondoc’s letter for mitigation, in which he apologized for what happened, and
his promise to control his anger in the future.
She also noted that Bondoc had lost his job as architectural
draftsman after his company was told about his pending case, leading him to work in a restaurant.
She also said she was aware of repeated disputes between the
defendant and Consulate staff, which led to Bondoc being barred from certain parts
of the Consulate offices.
“The court understands that the defendant was disturbed.
There is no justification, however, to resort to violence,” said the
magistrate.
In defending himself, Bondoc said the reason he got mad at the Consulate was because staff there told him he could not unilaterally change his civil status in his passport application to “single” even if he and his wife had already separated.
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