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Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Cop nabbed on slay of Bantay Dagat chief
CEBU CITY -- A policeman was arrested Monday afternoon after four witnesses pointed him out as the gunman in the murder of Cebu City Bantay Dagat Commission project director Elpidio "Jojo" de la Victoria.
Senior Police Officer 1 Marcial Bacudo Ocampo, 43, was arrested in a police line up at 3:25 p.m. inside the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) 7 headquarters at Camp Sotero Cabahug in Gorordo Avenue, Cebu City.
Shortly before Ocampo's arrest, Mayor Tomas Osmeña announced a P1-million reward for the arrest of the brains in the killing, on top of the P200,000, for the gunman's capture.
Ocampo, who serves as desk officer and radioman at the Minglanilla Police Station, was not presented to the media during a press conference as he was still placed under tactical interrogation.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, through Government Media Secretary Cerge Remonde, has ordered the police to conduct a thorough investigation on the incident.
"He was 101 percent identified by the four witnesses," CIDG 7 Officer Jorge Corpuz told reporters in a press conference Monday.
Ocampo's arrest came five days after de la Victoria was shot three times near the gate in his house in Sitio Dawis, Barangay San Roque Talisay City last Wednesday. De la Victoria died the following day of gunshot wounds that affected his internal organs.
Police Regional Office 7 Director Eduardo Gador created a task force and designated CIDG 7 as lead investigating agency, with Talisay City Police Station and the Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Bureau of the Cebu City Police Office as members.
Corpuz said that a day after de la Victoria's killing, several possible suspects cropped up, including Ocampo.
With the descriptions given by at least six witnesses, the task force came up with a cartographic sketch.
Late last week, the task force had already conducted background checks on at least three possible suspects -- Ocampo, Rene "Tata" Barangan, and a former policeman.
Police arrested Barangan, 25, on Good Friday for allegedly shooting to death a neighbor in Sitio Kalubihan, Barangay Poblacion, Talisay City.
Corpuz declined to name the former policeman.
The Talisay City Police will pursue its investigation on the possible involvement of Barangan in the killing even if witnesses failed to identify him.
It was earlier reported that Barangan's facial features resembled those of dela Victoria's attacker who fled aboard a taxicab.
But witnesses failed to identify him as the assailant.
Talisay City Police Director Romeo Perigo got a copy of the personal data sheet of Ocampo Monday. This led the task force to the residence of the suspect in Tres de Abril St. (at the back of Miller Hospital), Cebu City.
CIDG 7 operatives, led by SPO1 Delfin Bontuyan, together with the four witnesses, picked up Ocampo past 1 p.m. Monday for an investigation at the regional headquarters.
Bontuyan said that while they were still in Tres de Abril, the witnesses have already identified Ocampo as the gunman.
In a line up at the CIDG headquarters, the four witnesses, who were placed in a one-way mirror, again pointed to Ocampo as the gunman.
The four witnesses included Roberto Goc-ong, the driver of the taxicab flagged down by the gunman in fleeing from the crime scene.
Goc-ong, in a separate interview Monday, said that even if he was not able to see Ocampo's face when the suspect boarded his taxicab, he could still describe the alleged gunman. He said he could not forget the way Ocampo walked after alighting from the taxicab.
Corpuz said Ocampo denied the allegation and mentioned several places and names of persons he was at the time of the crime.
Ocampo's wife called "unfair" the allegations that his husband was the assailant, saying her husband was in Danao City during the incident.
Grace Ocampo said over radio interview that her husband returned from Danao in the afternoon that day.
The task force learned that Ocampo had filed a one-month leave of absence that started April 7.
Because of the Lenten holidays last week, Ocampo's leave was reportedly recalled so he could help in securing the religious celebrations in Minglanilla. He resumed his leave Monday.
Ocampo was disarmed of his service firearm, a .45 revolver. The firearm was submitted to a test.
Corpuz said Ocampo's arrest was the first step towards the resolution of the case. But the task force still has to identify the mastermind, if the killer was a hired gun.
"Please give us time and space. We are now doing legwork to identify the mastermind," Corpuz said.
Corpuz said the arrest of Ocampo does not require a warrant because it was a hot pursuit operation. (JST/GC/With AIV/Sun.Star Cebu)
(April 18, 2006 issue)
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