Monday, January 01, 2007 Suspect in slay of lady lawyer arrested
BAGUIO'S most wanted criminal, who was the subject of a nationwide manhunt for the alleged murder of lady lawyer Eugenia Campol of the Public Attorney's Office in Camp 7 over a year ago, was captured by the police in a town of Cavite recently.
The suspected gun-for-hire, who had a P200,000 cash reward for his arrest posted by the Department of the Interior & Local Governments, was reported to have voluntarily confessed to the crime and even pinpointed a mayor of Abra as the person who hired him to murder Campol for P70,000.
Director-General Oscar Calderon, Philippine National Police chief, identified the arrested suspect in a media presentation during the inauguration of BCPO Station 8 as Benedict Laddawan Fassong, 28, single, a native of Bikegan, Sadanga, Mountain Province. With Calderon during the presentation were Chief Supt. Raul Gonzales, director of the Police Regional Office in the Cordillera, and Senior Supt. Moises Guevarra, officer-in-charge of the Baguio City Police Office.
He was collared along Aguinaldo Avenue in Dasmariñas, Cavite, sometime last December 21.
"The arrest of Fassong is part of the ongoing intensified operation of the PNP in accordance with a recent directive of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to go after killers of prominent politicians, leaders of cause-oriented groups, members of the media, including those in the legal profession and the judiciary," Calderon said.
Baguio police considered Campol's murder last September 5, 2005 as among the most sensational crimes that year.
Guevarra said they were able to get a lead on the suspect's whereabouts when they received information that he was serving as one of the bodyguards of a ranking politician in Cavite City.
When the information was confirmed, BCPO operatives were dispatched to the place with a standing warrant issued by presiding Judge Clarence Villanueva of the city's Regional Trial Court Branch 7, where this case was docketed under Criminal Case 25162-R.
While under police custody, he reportedly narrated, in the presence of a counsel, how he was contacted to kill Campol through another politician. This other politician also allegedly supplied him with the gun and ammunition used in the hit. Part of the contract price was reportedly given beforehand while the rest was paid after the murder.
Although he admitted that he did not have anything against the late lawyer, he said he was given a picture of her and had two cohorts serving as lookouts.
Aside from Campol's murder, records showed that Fassong was also accused of a string of other crimes, including two frustrated homicides and three other murders.(Ernie Olson Jr.)
