WILL DENNIS SQUEAL?

Rojas family relieved but…

By Francis Allan L. Angelo

THE family of slain vice mayor Ramon Rojas of Ajuy, Iloilo is somehow relieved that one of the two suspects in the killing of their relative is alive and now in the hands of the police.

But Ajuy Mayor Juancho Alvarez, cousin of vice mayor Rojas, said they are also saddened by the death of alleged triggerman Edgar Cordero in the hands of still unidentified assailants.

Alvarez said Cordero could have revealed vital information that may resolve the death of his cousin if only he were alive.

Alvarez also debunked the claims of Cordero’s wife Nema that the Rojas family wants to retaliate on her husband.

“We really want Cordero alive because he is very vital to the case of the vice mayor,” Alvarez said.

Cordero was shot to death Friday last week at Brgy. Mahay, Butuan City while Dennis Cartagena survived. He was arrested Saturday afternoon.

The two suspects and a certain Jose Bajade were on their way to a birthday party when two unidentified persons shot them.

Bajade reportedly went with the two gunmen and is now considered a suspect in Cordero’s death. Cordero succumbed to two gunshot wounds in his chest and back.

Alvarez said Cordero’s death is not enough to bring justice to vice mayor Rojas’ death.

“This is just a partial victory on the part of our family and we have yet to know who the mastermind is. We ask the police to secure Cartagena on his way back here. I believe that a high ranking police official will fetch him in Butuan City along with a team of police officers,” Alvarez said.

The Ajuy mayor also refused to speculate on the culprits behind Cordero’s murder.

“Let’s wait for the investigation of the Butuan City police as to what really happened. Let us not preempt the police investigation,” Alvarez said.

Another cousin of the slain vice mayor, Iloilo provincial Board Member Jett Rojas, said he hopes that Cartagena’s arrest will uncover the real mastermind of the crime.

“We will surely achieve justice once Cartagena reveals everything he knows,” Rojas said.

Board member Rojas said what happened to Cordero is an indication that justice will always catch up with criminals.

COMMUNITY EFFORT

Meanwhile, Governor Niel Tupas Sr. urged all sectors to “close ranks and mobilize to help fight criminality.”

In his message during the opening of the crime prevention week Monday, Tupas lamented the string of murder cases in Iloilo City “that is a cause for worry and concern for ordinary Ilonggos.”

Tupas cited the case of murdered provincial fire marshal Casiano del Castillo and the two grenade-throwing incidents since Sunday.

“When guns-for-hire could just approach a victim and shoot him down in broad daylight, then everybody feels like vulnerable, a virtual sitting duck… Even the seeming safety and tranquility of our homes is no longer sacred. If this is allowed to continue, then we would spend nights in our homes not sleeping in peace, but cowering in fear,” Tupas said.

The governor said community effort is needed to prevent criminals from wrecking havoc on innocent civilians.

“The task of fighting criminality cannot just be left to the hands of our law enforcement authorities. Our police needs the support and cooperation of the entire community to effectively fight criminality,” he added.

Tupas said civilians must help bring to the authorities’ attention things that are going on their neighborhood.

“When a new face surfaces in the community, behaving strangely, then our residents have the responsibility to bring this to the attention of the police. Most of these crimes are not ‘spur-of-the-moment’, but are well-planned, and involves several days of planning and surveillance. This places the youth in the best position to help our law enforcement authorities. Because the youth is almost always outdoors, in the neighborhood basketball court, or the ‘tiangge’, or the streets hanging out with friends. You can become the most effective weapon against criminality by being the ‘eyes and ears’ of our police,” Tupas said.

Law enforcers can tap text brigades in villages that can give information on suspicious events and personalities in their surrounding.

Take 2: Lapuz teacher’s car bombed

By Francis Allan L. Angelo

THE opening day of the Crime Prevention Week was marred by a grenade-throwing incident in Lapuz, LaPaz district.

The rear portion of the Nissan Sentra car owned by Margie Gregorios of Brgy. Jalandoni Estate, Lapuz was wrecked when unidentified suspects lobbed a grenade inside their backyard past 4am Monday. Gregorios is a teacher of the Jalandoni Memorial High School.

The explosion also created a big whole on the yard of Gregorios family who were startled by the sudden explosion.

SPO3 Rafael Managuit of the Explosive Ordnance Division, said an M26-A1 fragmentation grenade was used to blow up the car.

This is the second grenade-throwing incident in the city in just two days. Earlier unidentified suspects also blew up the car of Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) intelligence chief Musa Amiyong early morning Sunday at Brgy. Habog-Habog, Molo district.

Managuit said the grenade used to blast Gregorios’s car is similar to the explosive used on Amiyong’s car parked on the roadside at Brgy. Habog-Habog, Molo Sunday.

Chief Insp. Uldarico Garbanzos, LaPaz police chief, said the incident may have something to do with the concubinage case Gregorios filed against her sister’s estranged husband, British national Hurrene. The case is now being heard at the Municipal Circuit Trial Court in Sta. Barbara, Iloilo.

“Mrs. Gregorios is the one pursuing the case against Mr. Hurrene although there are efforts from the part of the British to strike an out-of-court settlement,” Garbanzos said.

Garbanzos added Gregorios’s children also figured in an argument with Hurrene and two unidentified persons at the new Iloilo airport August 28.

The Gregorioses also narrated to the LaPaz police that they saw Hurrene and two persons pass by their house on board a car as if surveying the area.

“Gregorios’s children said they saw Hurrene pointing to their house while passing by,” Garbanzos said.

Garbanzos said they have identified the suspects but refused to elaborate pending further investigation.

Aside from Amiyong and Gregorios incidents, the ICPO has previously recorded two other grenade-throwing incidents in the city the past two months. The first case was the rigging of two hand grenades in a Tatoy’s Manokan cottage supposed to be reserved for businessman Melvin “Boyet” Odicta. The second involved the failed bombing of the tanod outpost at Brgy. Balabago, Jaro three weeks ago. This incident is believed to be related to the alleged fuel pilferage at the depot of Korean firm Hanjin, one of the contractors of the Iloilo Flood Control Project.