Thursday, June 12, 2008 ‘Sikyo’ charged By Katrina A. Balmaceda & Allan I. Varquez Of Sun.Star Cebu
AUTHORITIES charged yesterday a man identified by witnesses as the one who shot lawyer Richard Sison.
Nemuel “Titing” Camay Sumabong was identified by three witnesses last Tuesday as the gunman.
But Sumabong, a 30-year-old security guard from Bogo City, wept and denied the allegation. He said he was on duty in an establishment on Magallanes St. when Sison was killed in an ambush last May 21.
His colleagues in the store he was assigned to guard vouched for his innocence. They said Sumabong never left his post on May 21.
“Diri raman siya. Iyang oras alas 7 sa buntag hangtod alas 7 sa gabii wala man gyod na siya mobiya (He was here. He was on duty from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and he never left his post.),” said a fellow security guard who refused to be named.
But the guard also admitted they don’t have a logbook to record their attendance.
Sumabong has also been linked to the killing of businessman Renerio Arrogante III last March in Daanbantayan, where he allegedly acted as the gunman’s backup. He also denied involvement in Arrogante’s killing.
He is a cousin of Joel Sumabong, a suspected robbery gang leader accused of the P9.4-million robbery of the Land Bank of the Philippines branch in Bogo in August 2005.
Sumabong was arrested at 8 a.m. on June 10 in Purok 8, Barangay Camputhaw by National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7 agents led by Rennan Oliva and Jesus Manapat.
Oliva said they took one witness with them during the operation to make sure they got the right man.
“We were at some distance watching Sumabong, using a pair of binoculars. Ang among witness nidagan sa kahadlok pagkakita ana niya (The witness ran in fear upon seeing him),” Oliva said.
The NBI brought Sumabong yesterday afternoon to the Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office for inquest proceedings.
Sison’s children Charisse, Kathleen and Richard filed a murder complaint against Sumabong. Dina, his widow, was with them.
In yesterday’s proceedings, Dina wept and thrice tried to hit Sumabong but her children restrained her.
“Gitagaan ug saktong hustisya ang brutal nga pagpatay sa akong bana.
Kinahanglan gyod ka dong nga mobayad sa kamatayon sa akong bana (We have been given justice for the brutal killing of my husband. You will have to pay for his death),” she said after hearing Sumabong deny involvement in the killing.
NBI witnesses submitted a joint affidavit saying that they were at work in Barangay Tinago at 11:00 a.m. on May 21, when Sison was killed. He was ambushed while waiting for a traffic light to change on V. Sotto St. at the corner of M.J. Cuenco Ave.
The witnesses said they heard gunshots near their workplace, causing them to look to the street. They then “clearly saw” a man holding a firearm walking away from a gray Toyota pickup, the vehicle Sison was riding.
The man then reportedly fled on a motorcycle driven by an accomplice.
One of the witnesses reported having “eye contact” with the gunman while entertaining a customer.
The witnesses then saw the broken glass windows of the pickup truck and a man sitting in the driver’s seat “as if sleeping” and “bathed in blood.”
Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña, who attended yesterday’s presentation at the NBI, said Sumabong’s arrest “demonstrates that our city and the law enforcers are capable of solving crimes, including this terrible crime where we lost a valuable citizen of Cebu.”
Osmeña and Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Arturo Radaza, who was a client of Sison, called for authorities to go after the mastermind.
“I sincerely appreciate the efforts of the NBI and the other law enforcement agencies in trying to solve the murder and give justice to the victim and his family. But this should not end here. The mastermind or those behind the murder should be unmasked,” Radaza said in a text message to Sun.Star Cebu.
Aside from being the legal consultant of the Lapu-Lapu City Government, Sison also served as Radaza’s personal lawyer in the corruption charges filed against him.
Osmena assured Sison’s family of his help.
“I personally interceded for his retention so he can help us solve the crime,” Osmena said, referring to the aborted transfer of NBI 7 Director Medardo de Lemos at the height of the investigation on the killing.
