The man who cut short the lives of his two young daughters last June 2, 2021 is set to spend probably the rest of his life in prison after pleading guilty to twin homicide raps last week.
Originally charged with two counts of parricide for the grisly crime, Errol Tulay Trasmaño, who turns 45 this June 29, negotiated a plea deal with the prosecution when he appeared in court for his arraignment last Friday, June 11.
Brought in on a wheelchair from the Eastern Bicol Medical Center where he is recuperating from a gunshot wound in the left thigh, the accused, through his counsel, offered to admit guilt for the lower offense of homicide.
Also present at the sala of Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 42 Judge Genie G. Gapas-Agbada was his distraught wife, Noemi Bernal, but the estranged couple were apparently not allowed to see each other.
Upon instruction of the Court, employees and personnel of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) reportedly made sure that Trasmaño was whisked away to a far, unseen corner of the Hall of Justice before Bernal was ushered into the courtroom.
After the plea bargain received no opposition from the prosecution, the Court rendered its decision finding him guilty of the two homicide raps, with each carrying the penalty of imprisonment ranging from 12 years of prision mayor as minimum to 17 years and four months of reclusion temporal as maximum.
He was also ordered to pay the heirs of the victims the sum of P100,000 each as actual damages.
That same afternoon, the two victims, aged 8 and 9 years old, were buried at a Virac cemetery.
Their father, a former Baras LGU job order worker in the waste management unit, still faces a direct assault charge filed by the police.