Friday, May 09, 2008 They’ll kill me: slain man told ma
WITH the unsolved killings of suspected criminals, the parents of Recolly Igoy said they are no longer interested in the police investigation on his killing.
Igoy, who was injured in a shootout during a foiled bank robbery in Carcar City, was killed Wednesday afternoon in an ambush after posting bail.
Igoy’s mother said her son would still have been alive had policemen allowed him to stay at the Carcar City Police Station.
Lily Igoy said he son would have turned 23 next Thursday. She said they had planned to fetch him Wednesday evening as a security precaution. Jail personnel, however, refused to release him saying the officer in charge with validating the release order reports only during the day.
Carcar City Police Chief Teofilo Siclot said the family arrived with the release order at midnight.
“Dili intawn na ipagawas anang orasa. They have to be released during office hours and to confirm if the papers were authentic because he was facing a big case,” Siclot said.
Lily said her son initially refused to sign the surety bond because he wanted to stay at the Carcar police station.
“Ma, inyo ba diay kong pagawason nga mao man lang gihapon patyon man ko. Gobyerno baya ang akong kontra (Do you still want me released when I’ll only be killed? I’m up against the government),” Igoy’s parents quoted him as saying.
Igoy’s parents also said those who killed their son were evil: “Yawan-on kaayo, mora ug wala nay kalooy. Gusto nalang masakeron tanang mem-bro sa akong pamilya.
Kon na involve o wala ang akong anak, naa tay balaod, busa dili nila angay nga ingon anion. (They are evil, they have no mercy. They wanted to kill the entire family. Whether my son is guilty or not, we have laws. They should have done it.)”
Although police investigators have not finished gathering the statements of witnesses to Wednesday’s shooting, they are finding more reasons to believe that Igoy’s fellow robbers killed him.
Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Director Ronald Roderos cited the last two incidents when two men accused of robbery were shot dead right after posting bail.
“Organized criminal gangs use the concept of ‘piyaet must die.’ Those incidents bolster this angle,” Roderos told reporters yesterday.
Roderos was referring to the shooting of Brandon Babao and Rodulfo Atega, who were both killed last year after posting bail.
Police were trying to convince Igoy to become a state witness and tell them who else were involved in the robbery.
Initially, it was Igoy who told police at the hospital where the getaway car was parked. The keys to the car were found in the pocket of his slain companion, Nelson Gutierrez Jr.
More than an hour after the bank robbery, police found the green Mitsubishi Lancer parked at the Gaisano Carcar.
Minglanilla Police Chief Romeo Santander yesterday said they have finalized the statements of the family members and the five witnesses.
It turned out that there were actually two motorcycles involved in the killing.
He said the driver of one of the motorcycles had a helmet on while the other did not.
This is why there were conflicting versions regarding the gunman.
Santander said they have yet to verify from the Regional Crime Laboratory what firearms were used.
The family also disclosed to Santander their suspects and relayed to him a few situations that led them to believe they were the ones responsible.
However, he asked that these not be disclosed pending their investigation.
They also explained why the van proceeded instead of stopping to help Igoy and Enario.
Santander said they were afraid they will be included and that his mother did not want all of them to be killed that day. He added that Igoy’s mother was still hysterical while his wife Annalie has not stopped crying.
Carcar City Police Chief Siclot told Sun.Star Cebu that Igoy constantly refused every time his policemen tried to convince him to talk.
They offered him security at that time, but Igoy would only tell them that he had nothing to say.
After he was discharged from the hospital, he was detained at the Carcar City Police Station for four days before a commitment order was released for him to be detained at the Carcar City Jail.
Siclot said they were pinning their hopes on Igoy to identify other members of the group. Without Igoy’s testimony, he said they will have a hard time linking Roy Fernandez and two others to the robbery.
Police had tried to keep him from posting bail by filing a robbery with homicide case against Igoy.
They cited a Supreme Court (SC) decision that convicted a man for robbery with homicide even if he was not the one who shot the person.
Siclot said the prosecutor handling the case told them that their case was different because it was established that the policemen shot Gutierrez while in the SC decision, it was not clear who shot the man.
Santander also denied radio reports that they took too long to respond. He pointed out that they were even the ones who brought the wounded women to the hospital.
He said that after they received the information, they immediately informed the Talisay City Police Station of the incident so they could set up a road block.
He also explained that they prioritized the evacuation of the survivors of the shooting.
As of yesterday, they were waiting for an artist to make a sketch of the perpetrators based on the description of the five witnesses.
Roderos, for his part, said they will secure the witnesses of the shooting and that the Minglanilla Police will handle this. (MEA/AIV)
