THREE counts of murder were filed against a lone suspect in the killing of three Besao villagers in May.
On June 20, murder charges were filed before the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office in Bangued, Abra against Marlon Bacali Batuli, 39, single and resident of Barangay Tabacda, Tubo in Abra.
Abra police director Alfredo Dangani said Tubo Municipal Police Station investigators came to Abra Prosecutor’s Office to file the case against Batuli who is a hunter.
However, Dangani said the suspect remains at large, after admitting the crime to the council of elders and a Tuba official.
Batuli is urged to surrender and give his official statement.
In the final report by the Abra Provincial Police Office to Police Regional Office Cordillera, the admission of the suspect was recorded and documented.
To recall, Besao folk Jansen Gabaen, Ronnie Macayba, and Pedro Sauyen all from Agawa, Besao in Mt. Province went fishing May 24 for eels in a river in the forest at the boundary of Mt. Province and Tubo in Abra. A week after, they were found lifeless sustaining gunshot and hack wounds.
Meanwhile, the Municipal Peace and Order Council (MPOC) of Tubo in Abra earlier condemned the killing of the Besao residents and urge the Philippine National Police and other law enforcement agencies to use the full force of the law to bring justice.
“The MPOC urges the Philippine National Police and other concerned agencies to resolve this brutal and senseless crime with utmost urgency and to hold to accountable those responsible for this monstrous act,” stated the resolution.
The council expressed condemnation and passed Resolution no. 1 series of 2019 to formalize the outrage on the brutal act which disturbed the peace and order of the municipality.
Under the resolution, the council is sending a message that the municipality will not stand for this kind of atrocity.
During the municipal peace and order committee meeting on June 10, the incident was reported to the council of elders who called for fast resolution of the case to maintain peace within neighboring municipality.
The MPOC and the whole people of Tubo also condole and sympathize deeply with the bereaved families.