Saturday, May 10, 2008 Hired man squealed on ‘boss’ to TV news crew
FEARING for his safety, the man who accused Mandaue City College’s Dr. Paulus Mariae Cañete of plotting to steal school documents and kill Mayor Jonas Cortes sought the help of a media outlet when he first received the orders to commit the crimes.
Gavino Cabahug, 29, went to the GMA 7 Complex in Nivel Hills, Barangay Lahug, Cebu City on May 1 to report Cañete’s alleged plot.
Chelo Vallena, GMA 7 Balitang Bisdak supervising producer, said the squealer also showed them the text messages allegedly sent by Cañete.
They checked the number and verified that it belonged to the school official. It is the same number they used to contact the official and is reflected in their newsroom
logbook.
Cabahug also showed them the sketch plan of the school, which Cañete allegedly provided him. The sketch showed the location of the documents that Cañete wanted him to steal.
Although they took a footage of Cabahug’s initial disclosure, Vallena said they decided to postpone the broadcast of the report until the alleged plot is consummated.
They also agreed to Cabahug’s request not to show his face on TV, citing security concerns.
However, the Balitang Bisdak news crew had video recordings of Cañete’s two meetings with the squealer—on May 3 and 6.
On May 3, Cabahug agreed to meet with Cañete in Star Mart in Barangay Labogon, Mandaue City. The video footage showed Cañete talking to Cabahug, who was facing away from the camera.
On May 6, they met again at the same area. After the meeting, Cabahug showed GMA 7’s news crew the P15,000 that Cañete allegedly gave him.
However, the video recording did not show Cañete handing the money to Cabahug since the turnover allegedly happened inside Cañete’s van.
Cabahug alleged that Cañete instructed him to steal some school documents and hide these in another location. There was an initial plan to burn the documents but Cañete and his companions changed their minds.
He claimed that Cañete said that they will blame Cortes for the disappearance of the documents, which is in the school building the mayor padlocked and turned over to the City’s Science High School.
Cabahug will then carry out the order to kill Cortes.
“Wala nako kahibawo kon diha diha ba dayon basta ingon man sila nga nakadawat naman kuno sila,” he said.
Cabahug said he last met Cañete last Thursday, and that he was supposed to carry out the orders Friday dawn. By this time, Cabahug already asked the police to arrest Cañete.
Vallena said they no longer assigned a news crew to be present during the entrapment, which they thought would not push through.
“We wanted to be in a neutral ground, which is the police station,” she said. (CYR/REV)
