|
Friday, June 13, 2008
2 Lapu officials: Sison’s killing not fully solved
CEBU CITY -- Two Lapu-Lapu City Officials are still not convinced that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7 solved the killing of lawyer Richard Sison with the arrest of Nemuel Sumabong.
The NBI has said that witnesses pointed to Sumabong as the one who repeatedly shot Sison as he stopped at a traffic light last May 21.
Arroyo Watch: Sun.Star blog on President Arroyo
But Lapu-Lapu Vice Mayor Mario Amores and City Attorney Vincent Joseph Lim said they will be fully convinced that Sumabong was indeed the shooter if the Cebu City Prosecutor's Office finds strong basis to indict Sumabong.
"Government prosecutors are people that would find justice, not detain (innocent) people so we will just wait for the result of their investigation on Sumabong. Until they decide, I am not 100 percent convinced," Lim told Sun.Star Cebu Thursday.
Related stories:
Security guard charged for killing mayor's lawyer
Lapu-Lapu mayor’s lawyer murdered
Lawyer's slay a priority case for NBI; PRO 7 director leads police probe
Commendation
Amores said he felt as Lim did but that the NBI deserves commendation because Sumabong's arrest proves they are doing their job.
"We are watching this very closely and we hope the NBI is on the right track and this will lead to something concrete," he said in a separate talk.
Despite the NBI's arrest of the suspected gunman, however, the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) will continue with its investigation on Sison's killing.
CCPO Director Patrocinio Comendador said that although Sison's killing is considered solved in so far as the gunman is concerned, the investigation continues to unmask the driver of the getaway motorcycle and the mastermind.
Mastermind
"Our investigation focuses on pinning down the mastermind and the accomplice," he said.
Comendador and Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Director Ronald Roderos, in separate interviews, said the police will continue to support the NBI 7 in the parallel investigation on the killing.
Comendador declined to comment on suspicions that the arrest of Sumabong could be a case of mistaken identity.
"He was identified by the witnesses (as the gunman). Let's leave it to the court to determine if he is guilty or not," he said.
Comendador repeated, though, his statement that Sumabong's name did not surface in the police investigation.
Initial background investigation the city police conducted on Sumabong indicated the latter does not have any derogatory records, he added.
"Sa among investigation wala mi crop up iyang ngan. We don't know, we are not privy to the investigation of the NBI," he said.
The NBI 7 and the city police, which created Task Force Sison, are conducting separate investigations on the killing.
Both Comendador and Roderos, though, pointed out that the non-inclusion of Sumabong as one of the possible suspects in the police investigation does not clear him from involvement in the killing.
Identified
Police officials stressed Sumabong was identified by the witnesses.
"The three witnesses are reliable," Roderos said.
But co-workers of Sumabong, a security guard, said he never left his post in an establishment on Magallanes St. last May 21, when Sison was killed. They said Sumabong was on duty from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. that day. Sison was attacked at the corner of Sotto St. and M.J. Cuenco Ave., Barangay Tinago, Cebu City at 11 p.m. on May 21.
But NBI 7 Executive Officer Ernesto Macabare said an alibi is the weakest form of defense. Macabare said it is now up to the prosecutors to determine whether Sumabong is indeed innocent.
On the part of the NBI 7, Macabare said they have at least two witnesses that identified Sumabong as the gunman. The witnesses testified in a straightforward manner during the investigation, said Macabare.
There is also no motive for the witnesses to lie and just identify Sumabong on a whim.
"The witnesses should be rewarded or commended," said Macabare.
'Good break'
Follow-up operations are ongoing to arrest the driver of the gunman's getaway vehicle. Earlier leads brought the NBI to Bogo City Tuesday night, shortly after Sumabong's arrest, but they failed to arrest the other suspects.
Macabare said the NBI got a "good break" in the arrest of Sumabong with a number of informants. He would not, however, talk about a possible mastermind.
Sison's son Richard Dino was at the NBI 7 office Thursday to follow up on the development of the case.
Renerio Arrogante IV, the son of murdered businessman and former Daanbantayan town council candidate Renerio Arrogante III, was also at the NBI 7 office.
Sumabong has also been linked to the killing of Renerio III last March. He allegedly acted as the gunman's backup. The NBI earlier arrested Sergeant Moises Ludoc as the suspected gunman in Arrogante's killing.
Sumabong denied participation in both killings. (JST/AIV/JGA/Sun.Star Cebu)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Davao. (June 13, 2008 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here. |
|
|
|
[return to top]
[home]
|
|
SC Chief: RP controlled by 'economic colonizers'