Tuesday, May 27, 2008 Eyewitness identifies ex-mayor as gunman
DESPITE his denial of any participation in the crime, former Lezo, Aklan mayor Alfredo Arcenio was indetified by a witness yesterday as the gunman in the murder of a radio manager.
Arcenio’s motion to bail was also denied and he was ordered committed to the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC).
The former mayor was accused of shooting Herson “Boy” Hinolan of Bombo Radyo-Aklan on November 2004. The hearing of the case was transferred to Cebu after the Freedom Fund for Philippine Journalists, Inc. filed a petition for the transfer before the Supreme Court.
Chasing
Eyewitness Niño Suñer testified yesterday that he saw Arcenio chasing Hinolan and shooting him at around 10:45 p.m. in Nov. 13, 2004. The shooting allegedly happened near a carnival in Mabini St. in Kalibo, Aklan.
Suñer said he was sitting on a tricycle parked in a bodega outside the carnival when Hinolan came outside to relieve himself.
Suñer then saw Arcenio, wearing a black jacket and a cap, approach Hinolan.
According to Suñer, Arcenio was about two meters away from Hinolan when he heard a gunshot. Holding a pistol wrapped in a magazine, Arcenio allegedly chased Hinolan when the latter fled toward a gas station nearby.
Motorcycle
He said Arcenio tripped and fell but still caught up with Hinolan. The mayor allegedly shot Hinolan two more times until the victim fell on the road. Arcenio then boarded a motorcycle and fled from the scene.
Suñer brought Hinolan to Aklan’s provincial hospital but he did not make it alive.
Suñer said he recognized Arcenio because they both frequented cockpits in Aklan. He said his father and his grandfather initially kept him from testifying against Arcenio, since both of them know the mayor.
Suñer was 15 years old when the incident happened.
Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 16 Judge Sylva Paderanga said that though the defense tried to destroy the credibility of the witness, the prosecution had “very strong testimony for sufficient evidence.”
Arguments
Heated arguments from both sides marked yesterday’s hearing, prompting Paderanga to caution the lawyers not to get “carried away by their emotions.”
In yesterday’s hearing, Suñer positively identified Arcenio as the gunman.
The court ordered that Arcenio be immediately brought to CPDRC. Through his legal counsel Ramiro Madarang, Arcenio had earlier filed a motion to bail. The motion was denied yesterday.
Hinolan’s widow Aphrodite, 43, cried when Paderanga announced the decision.
“I must be the happiest person on earth,” she said in Tagalog. Her 13-year-old son, Kim, accompanied her.
Though she knows that they still have a “long fight” ahead, she thanked everyone who helped her.
“I would consider it an initial victory,” State Prosecutor Theodore Villanueva said after the hearing. (KAB)
