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Saturday, December 10, 2005
Town mayor's nephews tagged in councilor's slay
By Michael F. Sarcauga
PAGADIAN CITY -- Self-confessed gunman Marlon Pastoril has named the two nephews of Zamboanga del Sur's Labangan town mayor as the alleged masterminds in the ambush-slaying of Pagadian City Councilor Sultan Abdul Marcaban, Liga ng mg Barangay president, and five of his security escorts, officials said.
Labangan Town Mayor Abubakar Nandang Afdal denied any involvement in Marcaban's killing and promised to surrender his nephews once warrants for their arrest are issued.
Afdal has urged reporters not to drag his name into the Marcaban ambush-slay.
"Let's not make baseless accusations. Let the investigators do their job," the mayor told reporters in an interview at his residence.
The mayor holds office at his residence for "security reasons." Marcaban's younger sister, Uray Marcaban Mamaludin, was his political rival in last year's election.
In a sworn statement, Pastoril tagged Kittie Nandang and his brother Tukuran Town Councilor Sammy "Taktak" Nandang as the alleged brains in Marcaban's ambush.
He also accused five others, three of them ex-soldiers, and an agent of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces (ISAFP) as having carried out with him the attack on Marcaban's convoy on November 15.
The identities of five other suspects involved in Marcaban's ambush are being withheld so as not to jeopardize ongoing police operations.
Pastoril also mentioned in his affidavit an army major assigned with the 1st Infantry Division as among those who planned the ambush.
Pastoril, 23, single, and born in Marbel, South Cotabato, was working as a laborer at the port area of Pagadian City. He resides in Purok Santan, Ballesteros, Balangsan District, Davao City.
P1.5M reward
Asked by investigators during a tactical interrogation inside the army hospital of the 1ID in Pulacan, Labangan town how much they were paid to eliminate Marcaban, Pastoril said: "As far I know from my companions, the price was P1.5 million."
He also disclosed he was promised P100,000 or more by the group. He said in his sworn testimony that he received P1,400 during the planning stage held at the residence of Kittie Nandang in Dalapang, Labangan town. He received P1,500 more afterwards and one sack of rice prior to the incident.
Pastoril said they got the firearms used in the ambush from the residence of Kittie Nandang in Dalapang, Labangan town. These include five M-14 rifles, one M-16, one .45 caliber pistol, and one .38 cal. revolver.
He revealed that two of his colleagues (names withheld) -- a former soldier and an ISAFP agent -- were the ones who fired the first shots.
"At about 10 fathoms, more or less, from us the vehicle of Sultan (Marcaban) was immediately fired upon by our group," Pastoril said in his affidavit signed in the presence of Lawyer Edgar Bongalos of the City Public Attorney's Office.
He added that while his colleagues are still pumping bullets on Marcaban's convoy, "I went down from our vehicle and I shot (using M-14 rifle) the vehicle of Sultan (Marcaban), but I was immediately hit and fell down." He said he was hit in the back.
While he was slumped on the pavement, the back-up vehicle carrying Marcaban's security bumped him. Pastoril said one of his colleagues (name withheld) pulled him back inside the van.
The City State Prosecutor's Office has decided not to get involved in the case and has asked the Regional State Prosecutor's Office in Zamboanga City to handle the preliminary investigation on the ambush-slay of Marcaban and five of his security escorts, officials said.
City State Prosecutor Reynaldo L. Goan requested Regional State Prosecutor Chief Wilfrido M. Yu, in his letter dated November 23, to resolve the preliminary investigation.
Goan, in his letter, said two of the suspects -- Sammy and his brother Kittie-"belong to a powerful family with whom the late Sultan Marcaban had a bitter feud."
Sun.Star tried to reach the two Nandangs for their comments, but to no avail. It was learned they left their respective homes two weeks ago when authorities nabbed Pastoril, who admitted he took part in the killing of Marcaban, and five of his security escorts along the national highway of Tiguma.
Pastoril implicated the two Nandangs in the ambush-slay of Marcaban.
Pastoril was nabbed by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (not the police as reported earlier) at the Intensive Care Unit of the Mercy Community Hospital of Iligan City while he was getting treatment for his gunshot wounds.
Conflicting versions
Goan also pointed out that his office is having difficulty resolving Marcaban's case.
"There are conflicting versions as to the number of assailants," Goan said.
He cited the testimony of Safaron Donde, one of two security escorts of Marcaban who survived the attack, and the testimony of the arrested suspect.
Donde claimed, Goan pointed out that, "There were eight persons involved in the ambush, while the self-confessed assailant said there were only six."
He added that his office had already filed multiple, frustrated murder, and attempted murder charges against Pastoril (who assumed the alias of Wilmar Bayana Nacar) and seven John Does before the local court.
The case against the other suspects mentioned in the affidavits of Donde and Pastoril is pending for preliminary investigation.
In response to Goan's request, Yu designated on November 24 a three-man panel of regional state prosecutors to handle the preliminary investigation.
Zamboanga City State Prosecutor Ricardo Cabaron, Isabela City State Prosecutor Jaime Machutes, and Regional State Prosecutor Dennis Araojo were picked to conduct and continue the preliminary investigation of the case and to resolve it.
The panel also handled the killing of journalist Edgar Damalerio in 2002.
Reached over the phone, lawyer Ricardo Cabaron, head of the three-man panel, said they were still evaluating the case.
Cabaron added the panel will "give the respondents the right to reply." Cabaron refused to say when asked if there was prima facie evidence against the suspects. (Sun.Star Zamboanga/Sunnex)
(December 10, 2005 issue)
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