Arrest warrants out vs suspects in slay of Negros Occidental board member

NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, Philippines – Arrest warrants against the suspects in the slay of 5th district Board Member Renato Malabor and his bodyguard Leody Jomilla have been released after two counts of murder were filed in the court early this week.

Charged before the La Carlota City Regional Trial Court on Tuesday, March 8, were Police Officer 1 Robert Chloe Rito, Felipe Juntarciego, Jacklyn Villaquer, Eduardo Jugos Jr., Alias Taming, Alias Nonoy, Alias Jason, “John Does” and “Peter Does.”

Three of the suspects – Juntarciego, Villaquer and Jugos – were already in police custody after they were arrested in separate operations last year. They were served with the arrest orders.

Senior Superintendent William Señoron, officer-in-charge of the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office, said they could not locate the whereabouts of Rito, who was tagged by the witnesses as the alleged gunman of the board member and his bodyguard.

As of this writing, Rito had remained unaccounted for, Señoron said.

He said that a team of policemen came to the house of Rito in Isabela on Wednesday night to serve the warrant of arrest, but the police officer was not there. Rito had his days off on Tuesday and Wednesday and was supposed to return to work Thursday.

Señoron added manhunt operations are ongoing.

Rito was transferred to the provincial police headquarters after he was relieved from the Isabela Municipal Police Station last year.

Lawyer Nilo Sorbito, counsel of Rito, said that he has yet to see his client after the resolution of the fiscal came out Tuesday, though, he confirmed that Rito was not at work Wednesday.

He said that his client is left with 3 options now that the provincial prosecutor has already filed the case in the court – they will either file a motion for reconsideration, a petition for review, or a petition for bail, if indeed there is already a warrant of arrest.

Malabor, 55, and Jomilla, 52, were shot dead outside a cockpit in Asenso Village, Barangay Guintubhan, Isabela town on June 28, 2015.

A month after, two counts of murder complaints were filed by Senior Superintendent Samuel Nacion, former officer-in-charge of the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office, and the widows of the slain victims, Araceli Malabor and Lorena Jomilla, before the Provincial Prosecutor against the suspects.

Araceli, the widow of the slain board member, urged Rito to “tell us now who is behind you.”

“We are appealing to you to tell us now who ordered you to kill my husband. It was very painful,” she said, adding that they “really thank the Lord for the initial justice given to the death of my husband.”

Meanwhile, Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. urged the police to continue with the investigation even with the favorable ruling from the fiscal to identify the mastermind behind the killing.

The governor, who had been insisting that the murder of Malabor is politically-motivated, stressed that many suspects remained at large. – Rappler.com