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Wednesday, December 08, 2004
‘Boss in Lorega’
By Karlon N. Rama Sun.Star Staff Reporter
With Linette C. Ramos & Mia E. Abellana
A murder complaint was filed yesterday against the man believed to be behind the slaying of Cebuano news photographer Allan Nellas Dizon.
While Mayor Tomas Osmeña stopped short of saying the crime is solved, he also said the mastermind is in Barangay Lorega and has been supporting some barangay officials.
Suspect Edgar Belan-dres was brought before Cebu City Prosecutor Cezar Tajanlangit, who took cognizance of the complaint that was then endorsed to Assistant City Prosecutor Edilberto Ensomo for inquest investigation.
Belandres, represented by lawyer Danilo Yap, signed a waiver of detention and demanded a preliminary investigation. He has 10 days to answer the complaint that Yap, in an interview, described as illegal.
Yap argued that warrantless arrests are only valid when the respondent is caught in the act of committing a crime or immediately after the crime, provided that the arresting officers were in hot pursuit of the criminal and had personal knowledge of his or her crime.
“Five days ago, the police admitted publicly that they were facing a blank wall and didn’t have any idea as to who the culprit might be. Now, suddenly, they say they know who the suspect is and have, in fact, arrested him,” Yap said.
Aside from the murder complaint, Belandres, together with Marciano Villarin and Gaudencio Perales, also faces three different drug complaints.
Mastermind
Villarin and Perales are not impleaded in Dizon’s murder but have similarly signed a waiver of detention for the drug charges.
All three will be brought back to the CIDG headquarters until both the murder and the drug complaints are resolved.
Task Force Newsmen 7 suspects that Dizon may have given police a tip that displeased the mastermind of his killing last Nov. 27.
Supt. Salvador Manga Jr., task force head, said the police conducted an operation in Lorega based on Dizon’s information earlier that month.
As for PO2 Brazilio Borinaga, Manga said they got nothing substantial from him that they could use in the investigation.
“I think he knows something. We just cannot prove it,” Manga said.
For his part, Mayor Osmeña said: “We know who the mastermind is; the one arrested is just the hitman. The mastermind is in Lorega and has been funding foreign travels of barangay officials. And if we can prove this, we will kick them out.”
Lorega Barangay Chief Fortunato Parawan could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Competition
Manga believes that an operation by the Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Bureau (CIIB) last Nov. 6 had something to do with Dizon’s murder.
Last Nov. 6, the CIIB raided the house of Jory Villajos Cañete in Barangay Lorega and seized four big plastic packs of shabu.
Manga said it was Dizon who gave the CIIB information about Cañete.
After the raid, Labra had told reporters that Cañete was a competitor of Wendell Ilega, who was gunned down with his live-in partner Gloria delos Reyes last Sept. 28 at the Casa Amigo Pension House on Echavez St.
Manga earlier said Belandres’ group might have also been behind the killing of Ilega and former policeman and suspected pusher Felix Cuerda.
“Not necessarily Belan-dres. The same group,” he said.
The task force is digging up records on Belandres to find out if he was involved in any other crime.
Manga said Belandres was the suspect in the killing of a young anti-drug crusader, but the case was dismissed because the father “unknowingly” signed an affidavit of desistance.
Yesterday, Belandres’ wife and children went with him to the Palace of Justice. His teenage son Patrick sobbed as he recalled that his father was at home with him when Dizon was gunned down outside a car wash near SM City mall.
Neighbors
Two witnesses identified Belandres as Dizon’s killer and both, although covering their faces in the presence of media members, were presented to Prosecutor Tajanlangit and En-somo.
Justiniano Doller, 27, executed an affidavit saying he saw the killing from across the crime scene. The gunman and the lookout arrived and left on a red motorcycle, he said.
The gunman waited on Kaoshiong St. for Dizon to arrive. He removed his helmet prior to the shooting. He only put it back on when he confirmed Dizon’s presence and proceeded to shoot the photographer of The Freeman and Banat News.
The other person stayed on the motorcycle parked along the Five Star Carwash on Kaoshiong St.
The second witness, Epifanio Barcuma, 43, said he also saw the shooting from Soriano St. and even heard Dizon uttering: “Ayaw ana parts, silingan ra ta.” (Don’t do it, we’re neighbors.)
CIDG operatives Crisaleo Tolentino and Rex Derilo, together with SPO2 Edmund Junco, SPO1 Delfin Bontuyan, SPO2 Glen Devocion and PO2 Pablo Gentalian, also executed their affidavit detailing how they arrested Belandres and his two companions last Monday afternoon.
The three men were allegedly in a pot session in Belandres’ house in Lorega.
(December 8, 2004 issue)
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