AN INITIAL amount of P80,000 reward money has been offered to anyone who can give information on the whereabouts of Police Corporal Roger Rubio and alleged gambling lord Tomacino Aledro who are facing murder charges along with two others in connection with the killing of Dumaguete City-based radio block-timer Dindo Generoso, Negros Oriental Police Provincial Office Chief Colonel Julian Entoma said Monday, Nov. 11, 2019.
Police Regional Office Director Police Brigadier General Val de Leon has strict orders to Entoma and investigators to focus on establishing “air-tight” evidence against the mastermind in the murder of Generoso.
Five tracker teams have been sent out to find and arrest the suspects.
Generoso was ambushed and killed by men riding-in-tandem on Nov. 7, 2019 while driving his car on his way for work at the dyEM-FM Bai Radio 96.7 station in Barangay Piapi, Dumaguete City.
Generoso was reportedly a hard-hitting commentator. Other possible motives into his murder were politics and land dispute.
The Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) earlier said an influential local politician could be behind the killing.
Entoma said the reward money came from a concerned citizen and the amount could be raised to more than a million pesos as more and more donors “are giving their support” for the immediate arrest of all the suspects, including the mastermind.
Surrender feelers
It was not yet determined if the Dumaguete City Government and the Negros Oriental Provincial Government would also offer reward money.
Meanwhile, Entoma said he received information that Rubio was planning to surrender through the Commission on Human Rights in Dumaguete City.
Rubio reportedly denies shooting Generoso because he uses his left hand to shoot a firearm.
“Rubio says he is left-handed. Based on the security camera footage, the right hand was used to shoot the victim. But that’s his reasoning. It’ll be much better if he submits himself to an interrogation,” Entoma said in Cebuano.
Aside from Rubio and Aledro, two other suspects were arrested earlier and facing murder charges. They were identified as Teddy Reyes Salaw and retired policeman Glenn Corsame.
Investigators said Salaw is the brother-in-law of Aledro who reportedly fled the country to the US.
Entoma said he was coordinating with the Bureau of Immigration on Aledro’s reported flight abroad.
Police said Aledro owns the Mitsubishi pick-up used by the other suspects in the murder. The car was recovered later by a tracker team in Valencia City.
Entoma said Rubio, a member of the 2nd Provincial Mobile Force Company, could still be in Negros Island.
The PTFoMS said in reports that Aledro is a financier of illegal gambling, especially “bookies” with the Small Town Lottery (STL) of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office operating in Negros Oriental.
The authorized STL agent in the province is Red Carpet and Aledro was allegedly its “dummy financier.” PR WITH REPORTS FROM AYB / PJB