Friday, June 15, 2007 Zaspa, son file affidavit denying accusation of killing poll rival
DEFEATED Sta. Fe mayoral candidate Domingo Zaspa formally denied allegations he was behind the murder of former mayor Rogelio Ilustrisimo Sr.
Zaspa admitted he was still at the Capitol compound when he noticed a commotion at the area. It was only later, though, that he realized that the fuss was about the fatal shooting of Ilustrisimo, his then rival for the mayoral post of Sta. Fe town.
There has been some controversy on where Zaspa was when Ilustrisimo was shot last May 2.
According to radio broadcasts, Zaspa claimed he already boarded a taxi when Ilustrisimo was shot, but a witness claimed to have seen Zaspa in the vicinity during the incident.
“I was implicated merely on the basis of the allegation of one Niño Cabanas in his affidavit that the latter was surprised to hear from his friend, unknown and with no affidavit on record, that I was inside a taxi at the time Ilustrisimo was shot when I was allegedly near the scene of the crime,” Zaspa’s two-page counter-affidavit read.
Hearsay
“This is pure hearsay and uncorroborated... Even if a person happens to be at the scene of the crime, his mere presence will not automatically make him a conspirator or direct participant of the crime,” it also read.
The counter-affidavit was subscribed before Assistant Cebu City Prosecutor Mary Ann Castro.
Zaspa and his son Dino were at the Capitol, particularly at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) office, last May 2 to attend a hearing for the disqualification case they filed against Ilustrisimo.
After the hearing, Zaspa and his son said, they were going to Man-daue City. But while still inside the Capitol compound, they noticed people were running away from the Comelec building.
“Thinking that there were some safety or security problem, (we) joined the others who were running away and went to the direction of M. Velez St.,” the father and son said, in their separate affidavits.
Dino submitted a single-page affidavit in support of his father’s statements.
Denial
The elder Zaspa, in his affidavit, denied any association with Arnulfo Pigon, the ex-policeman who has been tagged as the gunman. (Pigon also denied any participation in the attack.)
Pigon and Zaspa were named respondents in the murder complaint filed before the Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office. The complaint is currently under preliminary investigation.
“I do not even know the alleged shooter, nor have I ever spoken to him,” read Zaspa’s counter-affidavit.
As to the allegation of two policemen, who submitted a joint affidavit stating they saw Zaspa talking to Pigon at the lobby of the Marriott Hotel a day after the shooting, Zaspa.
