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| Court did not accept defendant's offer of proof of her good character |
A Filipina was jailed for four months today after she pleaded guilty to beating up a fellow domestic helper with whom she has had a feud that dates back to when they were both in the Philippines.
Juliet Balacuit,
47 years old, presented a letter from her employer and a contract renewal as
proof of her good character, while her lawyer said her victim, Rodelia
Dangayo, was no longer keen to pursue the case as they sought to convince Eastern Court Principal
Magistrate Ivy Chui to give her “a last chance”.
But Magistrate
Chui was unmoved.
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| TAWAG NA! |
“Your
behavior was captured on CCTV,” she said. “You assaulted the victim with
another person, making the case even more serious.”
Chui
chose a starting point of six weeks’ imprisonment. With the one-third discount
for Balacuit’s guilty plea, the final sentence was four weeks.
The incident
happened on Nov. 5, 2023 in front of 21 Li Yuen Street West, known to Filipinos
as Alley-Alley, when Balacuit saw Dangayo.
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| PINDUTIN DITO |
A
CCTV shown in court showed that Balacuit ran after Dangayo and grabbed her by
the hair from behind; an unidentified woman then pushed the victim to the
pavement.
Balacuit
then straddled the prone Dangayo while punching her on the head and body.
She kept kicking Dangayo as some of her friends tried to pull her away.
The
victim was taken to hospital for treatment.
During an investigation, Balacuit denied assaulting Dangayo, who turned out to be a
distant relative, until she was shown the CCTV footage.
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| PRESS FOR DETAILS |
