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| Bondoc's Faceboook profile photo |
It was a case of “he said, she said” -- common in domestic violence where no other witness is present -- when Filipino Ronald Bondoc was tried at Eastern Court today, charged with beating up his live-in partner Karla Gonzales and threatening her with a knife.
In their testimonies, Gonzales described how she was slapped
on the face, grabbed by the arms and kicked on the legs by Bondoc in waves of
attack from 1 to 2 am last Oct. 2.
When it was his turn to testify, Bondoc insisted that he never hurt Gonzales, instead telling her to leave the house so they would stop quarrelling. He added that he lay in bed facing the wall when she left so he would not see her leaving, and suggested that her injuries -- certified by doctors at Ruttonjee Hospital as painful upper back, as well as bruises on upper arms, knees and legs -- were self-inflicted.
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But Magistrate Jeffrey Sze gave more weight to the testimony
of Bondoc’s accuser and declared him guilty in both cases, sentencing him to a
combined four months in jail -- three months for assault occasioning actual
bodily harm, plus one month taken from his six-week penalty for criminal
intimidation.
This came just six months after he walked out of jail after finishing a 10-week sentence for threatening to burn the Philippine Consulate, criminal intimidation of its staff and loitering, in a case that concluded with his conviction on April 3.
“I saw her as an honest and reliable witness,” Magistrate
Sze described Gonzales.
He added that he did not find Bondoc honest and reliable; he
created new narratives as he went along and was unrepentant.
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Gonzales’ story began at past midnight of Oct. 2 in their
subdivided flat on Jardine’s Crescent in Causeway Bay, when she and Bondoc
argued over his having an affair.
She said the argument led to Bondoc slapping her, and for about an hour he occasionally grabbed her arms and kicked her on the legs. During this time, she said she called the police but was answered by a voice mail.
In the cross examination, the defense lawyer asked Gonzales
why she did not call 999, a well-known emergency number, but she said the
number she dialed was given to her by police when they were investigating
Bondoc about the earlier case when he threatened to burn the consulate.
Gonzales testified that she was able to leave their house at
2:30am, and went to the flat of a friend where she spent the night. She went to
the hospital the next day, complaining of body pains and fever. She received
treatment and a medical certificate and was referred to a police outpost in the
hospital.
After she made her statement to the police, Bondoc was
arrested.
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For his part, Bondoc described his relationship with Gonzales as “heaven” until after she gave birth to their second child last March. She became possessive and suspicious, and even installed a spying app in his phone to listen in on his conversations, he said.
“I never assaulted my
wife,” he testified several times.
He tripped when Magistrate Sze asked him about the two hours
before the assault, when he returned to the house after going out for 45
minutes to withdraw money and see a friend
in Sheung Wan.
He said an angry Gonzales was waiting in the alley leading
to their building’s entrance, and confiscated his mobile phone. She went back
home and he stayed outside to go to a nearby Circle K store to pay his rent
through his landlord’s Paypal account.
When asked by Sze how this was done, Bondoc said the store would scan
his landlord’s QR code from his phone, and he would pay in cash. When Sze reminded him that Gonzales had taken his phone home, he explained that he got it back
from her for the Circle K transaction and returned it to her before she went home.
After his conviction, Bondoc’s lawyer asked for the magistrate’s
mercy, saying he had suffered enough because he had lost his job, and has given
up his home because he had not paid his rent for the two months he had been
held in detention after his arrest.
“His marriage is practically over,” the lawyer added.
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