Just as he was on the verge of heaving a sigh of relief when an original charge of murder was reduced to homicide when by a strange twist city businessman Eduardo “Boy” Enerio will have to be haled to court after all facing the same case after it was downgraded to a lesser offense. And adding insult to injury, was that he was facing another criminal case, this time, for libel, filed by his cousin Loay Mayor Rosemarie Lim-Imboy. The controversial Enerio who dropped out of sight as soon as a warrant for his arrest was issued for a non-bailable crime was issued was set to come out in the open after learning that his case for murder was downgraded to homicide. That he will remain on the run was a foregone conclusion after his original case was restored to what it was.

This new development in the Enerio case came after acting Justice Sec. Alberto Agra granted the instant petition for review following the resolution of the Regional State Prosecutor remanding the same to a lesser charge. With the DOJ resolution, the city prosecutor of Tagbilaran was directed to withdraw the information for homicide, if any has been filed, and to file an information for murder against all respondents. The DOJ resolution also included in the charge sheet two personalities identified as Jonie Escabusa Amoncio and Angelito Barcelona. Earlier, Regional State Prosecutor Graeme June Elmido downgraded the Enerio murder case to homicide in a resolution promulgated on April 27,2010.

Enerio was indicted for murder on account of the killing of Jack Lord Decasa last Nov. 14 at the posh residence of the businessman along J. Borja St. Although there was no indication that they participated in the commission of the crime, the DOJ resolution included Amoncio and Barcelona. Amoncio was the watchman of the Honeybee bldg., where he corroborated the narration of Enerio that the killing was an act of self-defense on the part of the businessman. The building was where the killing took place. There was no mention in the DOJ resolution about Barcelona except his statement that there was no evidence linking him to the killing of Decasa.

LIBEL

The libel case against Enerio stemmed from his alleged libelous claims when he was interviewed in the radio program Inyong Alagad by its anchors Fred Araneta and Chito Visarra. In a seven-page resolution, Third Asst. Provincial Prosecutor Tito Apura found Enerio probably guilty of libel when he insinuated in a radio interview that the “shabu” confiscated was planted and that Mayor Imboy and her brother Lucio Lim, Jr. were behind his arrest. The lady mayor said she heard the interview of Enerio. The house of the businessman was raided by agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) on January 21, 2010. According to the prosecutor the imputations to Imboy and Lim were stated in this wise: “ Ang behind ani si May Imboy….kana siya namayor because of me. Pag produce naku pagkahuman ani they have a plan nga patyon si Norris ipapatay ning mga tawhana that's why they want to kill karon kay wa man silay mamama proweba jud ana mao nga siya maoy nangusug kinta si Mayor maoy nangasug, si Lucio, si May Imboy…”

The libel case filed by Mayor Imboy also included Araneta and Visarra but the prosecutor dismissed the case against the two after he found no ground to indict them. Finding no evidence against Visarra and Araneta, Apura quoted a portion in the decision of PP vs Norona 329 SCRA 502 saying: It is a hornbook doctrine that conspiracy must be proved by positive and convincing evidence—mere suspicion, speculation, relationship, association and companionship do not prove conspiracy.