Thursday, June 05, 2008 Motorcycle used by Rojas assassins recovered By Ruby P. Silubrico
A MOTORCYCLE believed to be used by gunmen who killed Vice Mayor Ramon Rojas of Ajuy, Iloilo was recovered in a forested area of Barangay Badiangan last Tuesday.
Iloilo Provincial Police Director Ricardo Dela Paz said Wednesday that the black motorcycle allegedly used by gunmen Edgar Cordero and Dennis Cartagena was indeed recovered around 1 p.m.
Dela Paz said the motorcycle was previously owned by couple Rogelio and Rudita Condino, but it was stolen by Cartagena and Cordero after they shot Rogelio to death last May 3, 2008 in Poblacion, Banate, Iloilo.
"The original color of the motorcycle was yellow but the perpetrators have painted it black" so its owners and authorities would have difficulty identifying it, Dela Paz said.
Dela Paz added that the recovery of the motorcycle could help towards solving the cases of Rojas and Condino.
"So we now know that it was Cartegena and Cordero who killed Rogelio Condino and took the motorcycle. We can now consider the Condino case as already solved," Dela Paz said.
Recently, Camp Martin Delgado Crime Laboratory personnel Rhea Villavicencio confirmed the empty shells recovered from the area where Condino was shot dead were the same as those found in the scene of the crime in Ajuy, which led authorities to conclude that the same gun was used in the killing of Condino and Rojas.
Dela Paz believes Cartagena and Cordero are still here in Western Visayas, contrary to reports that they have already fled to Metro Manila.
"They are still here and we are trying to find and arrest them as soon as possible. We are asking the help of the people of Ajuy to give us some information that could lead to their arrest," Dela Paz added.
