Thursday, March 01, 2007 Clan feud blamed for killing, arson By Garry Cabotaje Sun.Star Staff Reporter
A FEUD between two local clans may escalate with the grisly killing Tuesday of a young man in a hilly village of Jaclupan, Talisay City.
Witnesses tagged Richard Abella as the one who shot 15-year-old Roderick “Ik-Ik” Tabliega while he was on his way home with his elder brother Joeve and some female friends around 3:20 p.m.
The group had just crossed a footbridge in Sitio Manggilamon when Roderick was shot in the upper back.
They earlier spent the day swimming in a pool in Igotan falls, an idle and undeveloped local tourist spot in Jaclupan.
Backed by two unidentified companions, Abella then reportedly chased the victim towards the river and finished him off by slashing his throat.
Attack
Hours after Roderick’s death, a group of armed men torched the house of spouses Saturnino and Nemesia Bacarisas, who reportedly have a personal conflict with the Tabliegas.
The Bacarisas were cooking a local delicacy outside when armed men suddenly came and set ablaze their house in Sitio Tabok-Sapa with dried coconut palms past 10 p.m.
This prompted them and their young child to scamper away, leaving behind all their personal belongings.
The couple, who vowed to file an arson case, believed the Tabliegas were responsible for burning their house. Damage to properties, which include house appliances, was placed at P80,000.
Yesterday morning, three men were seen fleeing towards a forested area right after a police team, led by SPO4 Henry Obiso, arrived at the burned house in Sitio Tabok-Sapa.
They recovered an improvised .22 rifle with scope and a holster for caliber .38, which were reportedly left behind by the escaping men.
Investigators believed the men were responsible for the torching of the Bacarisas’ house. They did not say, though, whether they were the Tabliega siblings.
At the Talisay City Police Station, Joeve told reporters that Abella was a relative of the Bacarisas.
The couple, however, denied it, saying they don’t know the suspect, who is still at large.
Threat
Joeve confirmed that his family has a long-running feud with Saturnino, who allegedly threatened him and Roderick with harm when they were still kids.
PO2 Joel Rosales, homicide investigator, said the feud worsened when the Bacarisas complained to authorities about a stone-throwing incident last Feb. 19.
The couple identified Roderick as the one who stoned their house several times after the latter got scolded by his parents for hanging out with friends at their house.
“We don’t know why he (Roderick) turned his ire at us,” said Nemesia in an interview.
Last Monday, Roderick’s elder brother Jessie suddenly appeared at their front yard and fired shots into the air, she added. The next day, the Bacarisas said the victim’s father Robert also lobbed stones at their house.
The father reportedly got irked after they filed a formal complaint against Roderick for the Feb. 19 stone-throwing before the Barangay’s Lupon Tagapayapa.
Meanwhile, Joeve and three other witnesses - Shello Mie Sacares, Cesel Labitad and Mary Rose Sabroso, the victim’s girlfriend - already executed a joint affidavit identifying Abella as the gunman.
Rosales said the affidavit will be used to file a murder case against Abella at the City Prosecutor’s Office.
