P150K FOR A LIFE
Barug Team Rama has put on hold the release of the P300K cash reward for the arrest of the suspect pending a deeper investigation by the police.
Jimmy Largo, an arrested suspect for the ambush of Barangay Ermita Captain Imok Rupinta, says a politician was behind it
But Central Visayas police chief Espino says their investigation, so far, suggests the motive for the attack wasn’t political
The suspect in the killing of Cebu City Ermita Barangay Captain Felicisimo “Imok” Rupinta said that a politician in the village who is identified with the Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan was the mastermind behind the crime.
Jimmy Largo said that the politician had offered to pay him P150,000 to kill Rupinta but he refused, saying that the village chief was his boss.
“I am Rupinta’s man. He cared for me even before. He was the one who helped me put up my business,” he said.
The alleged gunman claimed that when the Office of the Ombudsman suspended Rupinta and seven other barangay officials early this year, a former barangay official called him to do the job.
“Last month, he again called my wife and told her that they already found another person to shoot Rupinta,” Largo said in an interview during the T2 program in Aksyon Radyo Cebu.
The supect then said that he is willing to tell the police who the former barangay official is.
“I will really identify him since I am the one being accused of something I didn’t do,” he said.
When asked why he didn’t warn Rupinta, Largo said he was afraid as it was known in their barangay that someone wanted the barangay captain dead.
Largo said that he arrived at 6 p.m. last Thursday in Ermita from Aloguinsan after getting a barangay clearance for his friend who had been arrested for illegal gambling.
Rupinta was killed by unknown assailants past 9 p.m. last Nov. 23 in Liloan, Cebu.
In a related development, Barug Team Rama is withholding, in the meantime, the P300,000
I am not the gunman. I was sitting in Carbon Public Market with Totong, Rupinta’s brother, (when he was killed) JIMMY LARGO
bounty that the group had raised, despite the arrest of Largo.
In an interview, Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella said that the group will have to discuss whether they should already give the cash reward while waiting for the police report.
Although he lauds the police for the immediate arrest of Largo, Labella said there is still a need for a deeper investigation, and that authorities must look beyond the suspect’s confession.
In another interview with radio dyRC, Largo said that Rupinta would ask him to kill troublemakers in Ermita.
Largo also confessed that a former barangay councilman contacted him to kill Rupinta.
“They should evaluate Largo to determine if he is not just a fall guy. It has happened so many times that the fall guy was indicted just to hide the real criminals. The police should look into that. They should be smarter than the criminals,” the vice mayor said.
Labella added that authorities must conduct a thorough investigation to find out the mastermind.
He believes that the ambush was planned.
Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña, for his part, said that it would be wise not to speculate on Rupinta’s death and to allow the authorities to handle the matter.
“Let the investigation run its full course. I won’t meddle,” he told SunStar Cebu in a text message. /