Friday, April 18, 2008 Murder case to be filed today vs. soldier linked to Arrogante killing
THE Office of the Cebu Provincial Prosecutor is scheduled to file today a murder case against Army Sergeant Moises Ludoc, the alleged gunman in the slaying of businessman Renerio “Gogong” Arrogante III.
Ludoc’s fellow soldiers, meanwhile, said they are ready to support his statement that he was in Negros Occidental when Arrogante was shot dead.
The Army infantry man allowed the filing of the case by default after he refused to invoke his right to preliminary investigation in the inquest proceedings Assistant Provincial Prosecutor Jose Edwin Renegado held late yesterday afternoon.
Two lawyers showed up in Ludoc’s behalf although the one the army sent, Maj. Burt Padis of the Judge Advocate General’s Office, was only there to “observe” the proceedings.
Both lawyers questioned the manner of the arrest but it was Nelson Mondigo, the one Ludoc’s family retained, who manifested in yesterday’s inquest that they were waiving preliminary investigation.
Had they sought preliminary investigation, Ludoc would have been given 10 days to prepare and submit a counter-affidavit that can argue the illegality of the arrest.
But even if he were able to convince the fiscal that the arrest was illegal, sources said Ludoc would still not be released from custody.
This is because the NBI filed a separate illegal possession of firearm charge against him before the Office of the Mandaue City Prosecutor for the .38 cal revolver that was in his possession at the time of his arrest.
Mondigo, in an interview, said they would rather raise the issue on the legality of the arrest before the trial court.
If they can convince a judge that the arrest was illegal, then maybe they can also have the subsequent body search - which resulted in the discovery of the gun - as illegal.
No warrant
Mondigo pointed out that Ludoc was arrested without the benefit of a warrant of arrest.
The Rules of Court allows warrantless arrests only on specific cases: when the subject was caught in the act of committing or while about to commit a crime, after a continuous hot-pursuit operation, and when the person to be arrested is a jail escapee.
Mondigo said the Arrogante killing happened last March 9.
At the time of the murder, investigating authorities didn’t have a suspect. While they were able to subsequently gather enough details to compose a cartographic sketch, the identity of the gunman remained unknown.
With that, he said, the NBI cannot claim that the arrest resulted from a continuous hot pursuit operation.
“How can you pursue an unknown suspect,” Mondigo said.
Ludoc was arrested Wednesday noon after disembarking at a bus stop in Tabok, Mandaue City.
Agents had been monitoring the bus all the way from Barangay Bateria in Daanbantayan town, where Ludoc lived, and waited until he disembarked in Mandaue City before taking him into custody.
Ludoc matched the image on the cartographic sketch NBI investigators, led by Supervising Agent Jose Ermie Monsanto, made of the assassin upon the description of witnesses.
The army sergeant however denied the allegation in an interview at the NBI stockade.
He said he had been stationed at the 11th Infantry Battalion headquarters in Maruha, Barangay 9, Isabela, Negros Occidental since January 22. His commanding officers, he said, can vouch for him.
Yesterday, Lt. Col. Franco Nemesio Gacal, commander of the 11th Infantry Battalion (IB) based in Isabela, Negros Occidental sent two soldiers to Cebu along with supporting documents to prove Ludoc rendered official duties for the Charlie Company of the 11th IB.
The two soldiers were directed to bring the company logbook, a list of the guard detail and a certification from Gacal that Ludoc reported for work that day.
Evidence
Maj. Samuel Sagun, spokesperson of Central Command (Centcom), said the battalion believes Ludoc was only mistaken for the gunman because he served as sentinel for the company on that day.
The two soldiers from the 11th IB are expected to submit their evidence to the NBI, which was been handling the probe.
Centcom will support him by providing legal assistance from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
“The stand of Centcom is we will never condone any wrong doing of our personnel. But our Constitution also provides that any person is presumed innocent until proven guilty,” Sagun told reporters.
Sagun also assured that Centcom will not interfere with the investigation of the NBI.
“We will not speculate if he is guilty or not. Let us respect the investigation,” Sagun said.
Ludoc said he came to Cebu only so that he could process his claim with the Home Development Mutual Fund. He said his 10-year contribution had matured and could now be claimed.
But three witnesses independently picked Sgt. Ludoc out from a lineup at the NBI headquarters.
One of them was Julieta Arrogante, the late Renerio’s widow, who executed an affidavit to say that Ludoc was the same man who, wearing a dark shirt, denim shorts, slippers and a palos (golf) hat, shot her husband repeatedly that fateful day.
“Because of the traumatic experience, I will never forget his face. He was also about a meter away from me when he shot my husband and we stared at each other,” she said. (KNR/MEA)
