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Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Iligan cops nab suspect in blocktimer shooting
By Danilo V. Adorador III
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY -- Iligan police Monday nabbed one of the three suspects in the shooting of radioman Jose "Joe" Pantoja, a breakthrough to the one-month-old attempted murder case.
Romeo Vequizo was arrested in his residence in Barangay Tipanoy over the weekend. The suspect insisted though that he had not gone into hiding and claimed he was innocent of the charge.
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But Iligan City Police Director Virgilio Rañes said Vequizo had been hiding from authorities, and even narrowly escaped arrest at his residence two days after the October 8 shooting.
Vequizo is said to be the driver of the motorcycle that was used by the suspects as a getaway vehicle.
Vequizo cleared Lanao del Norte 1st District Representative Vicente Belmonte from the case, and alleged that certain personalities are offering him bribes to pin down the lawmaker.
He admitted being an employee of Belmonte when the latter was still a councilor, but said he and the lawmaker had not communicated for so long.
Pantoja, who suspects Belmonte as the brains behind the attempt against his life, insisted that he has positively identified Vequizo as part of the trio who nearly killed him beside a busy highway in Barangay Tibanga last October 8.
Pantoja is a known critic of Belmonte in his daily radio program. The radioman, however, made it clear that he has no evidence of Belmonte's alleged participation in the plot to kill him "as of the moment," and that his suspicions are based on pure circumstantial evidences.
Belmonte denied any involvement in Pantoja's shooting, and even denounced the incident.
Vequizo's arrest, which came a week after warrants of arrests were issued by a regional court in Iligan against the three suspects, was greeted by the local media with optimism.
"We hope that this is a step toward the early resolution of the case, and the eventual identification of the mastermind of this bural act against free expression," said Jerry Orcullo, president of the Cagayan de Oro Press Club (COPC).
Pantoja, who formerly worked for broadcast outlets in Cagayan de Oro, is a member of the COPC.
With Vequizo's arrest, probers are expecting a headway in the investigation and hoping for the arrests of Romeo Ragasajo and Ding Galvez -- two other suspects who remain at large at the moment, said Director Rañes.
The three are facing attempted murder charges.
Lanao del Norte Provincial Prosecutor Jaime L. Umpa said a number of witnesses to the radioman's shooting are under the witness protection program of the Department of Justice. (Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Cebu. (November 13, 2007 issue)
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