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Saturday, June 25, 2005
Dumpit considers libel suit v. Nodalo’s widow
By Linette C. Ramos Sun.Star Staff Reporter
With Mia E. Abellana & Allan I. Varquez
Either he has gained supernatural powers or suspected robber Joel “Tongol” Nodalo’s wife was dreaming.
This was how SPO1 Adonis Dumpit answered allegations that he shot and killed Nodalo in Bohol last Thursday night, saying it’s impossible for him to be in two places at the same time.
Dumpit said he was out drinking in Cebu City around the time Nodalo was shot, but he wouldn’t say exactly where he was and who his companions were.
He told reporters yesterday that he will file complaints of libel against Nodalo’s wife, Janice, who has said she was sure it was Dumpit she talked to over her husband’s cellular phone, immediately after the shooting.
The gunman took Nodalo’s phone and bet money after shooting the latter at least 14 times in a cockpit in Buenavista, Bohol.
“Ako kunong tingog? Ah gidaman ra to siya. Unsa ko, ungo na muabot lang ug usa ka lugar kalit-kalit? Dia ra ko sa Cebu gabii, hubog ko. Tanan na lang ako, ing-ana ko kagamhanan (She heard my voice? Maybe she’s dreaming. I was in Cebu Thursday night, drunk. Everything’s blamed on me, that’s how powerful I am)?” Dumpit told reporters yesterday.
Hid his face
Since the police has not considered him a suspect yet, Dumpit said he will not subject himself to a paraffin test at this time.
Buenavista Police Chief Epefanio Acogedo said it is difficult to believe Joel Nodalo’s father’s claim that he saw Dumpit shoot his son, because the gunman covered his face with a cloth and wore a wig.
Acogedo said, though, that if Isidro Nodalo and Janice, Joel’s wife, come to his office and execute an affidavit implicating Dumpit in the murder, he will invite Dumpit for investigation.
Relatives of Nodalo believe not only that Dumpit shot Nodalo, but that he had Supt. Pablo Labra II’s blessing.
A relative of Nodalo’s wife Janice, who asked not to be named, claimed that Labra has always been on Nodalo’s case and has threatened to go after Nodalo even if he stops in his illegal drug business.
“I will not comment unless the accusation is put into writing, or else I’ll charge them with maligning my name. I challenge them to show their evidence implicating me,” Labra said, when asked for his comment.
Threat
Janice pointed to Dumpit, who was allegedly with two other gunmen and six lookouts, as the one who shot Nodalo in Barangay Asinan, Buenavista Thursday night.
When Isidro told her the gunman took Nodalo’s cell phone, Janice called the number and was shocked to hear Dumpit’s voice.
“Aw kaila diay ka nako? Isunod tika (So you know me? I’ll get you next),” the man allegedly threatened.
Janice, who is five months pregnant, said her father-in-law has gone into hiding for fear Dumpit will come for him next.
When Sun.Star Cebu told her of Dumpit’s denial, Janice said, “Why should I make up stories? When learned that he was gone for two days, I immediately wanted Tongol to stay home.”
In a phone interview yesterday, Dumpit challenged Janice to prove that he shot Nodalo, saying it is impossible for him to be in Bohol and Cebu at the same time.
But when reporters asked him where he was and whom he was with, the policeman said he was too drunk to remember.
Good mood
He said he left the house without informing anyone, so he could avoid a fight with his wife, still fuming over his suspension.
Despite the suspension order, Dumpit was still in the mood to joke around, as he turned over the revolver and pistol to the GSO, where City Hall employees gathered to get a glimpse of him.
“O sir, imo na ning .45, mao nay nakaputol sa tiil ni Torres. Kining .357 imo na sad na, mao nay nakapatay ni Ronron Go. Kining M16 sa CCPO ni iuli,” he told the GSO officer, referring to a robbery suspect he disabled and another he killed this year.
For her part, Janice said Nodalo was honest with her and would tell her if he was involved in any robbery or illegal drug transaction.
She said he made a living selling guso (seaweed) in Bohol after his last arrest for possession of firearms in Lapu-Lapu City and only comes to Cebu to attend court hearings.
Nodalo was supposed to attend a hearing on firearm case yesterday and celebrate Janice’s birthday at a beach in Mactan, after he won P30,000 in the cockfight derby.
(June 25, 2005 issue)
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