Second suspect in Rupinta ambush arrested; only 2 to 4 at large, 8 days after fatal attack
A week after Jimmy Largo’s arrest, a man known only as Jordan also ends up in police force’s hands
Police arrested Saturday a second suspect in the ambush that ended the life of Ermita, Cebu City Barangay Captain Felicisimo “Imok” Rupinta last Nov. 23. A man initially identified only as Jordan was caught a week after police first picked up suspected gunman Jimmy Largo.
Jordan Gera, an ex-convict and an alleged member of Batang Cebu 45 of the Cebu City Jail, was arrested yesterday afternoon by operatives of the Regional Special Operations Group (Rsog) 7 in Sitio Mangga, Barangay Jugan, Consolacion for the ambush-slay of Ermita Barangay Captain Felicisimo “Imok” Rupinta last Nov. 23.
Gera is the second suspect in Rupinta’s death to be arrested after Jimmy Largo was nabbed last Nov. 24.
“He’s a hired killer and it was our assets, who pointed out that he was hiding in Consolacion. He was with Largo when they killed Kap Rupinta,” said Chief Supt. Jose Espino, Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 director.
Gera, a vendor at the Carbon Public Market, denied the allegations against him.
“Tan-awa akong hitsura, Ma’am. Wala ko kahibaw sa imong gipang-estorya ( Look at me. I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he told Jocelyn Mendoza, Rupinta’s live-in partner, when they met when he was presented to the media.
But Mendoza, who was with Rupinta when he was fatally ambushed, insisted that Gera was one of the gunman. “Isulti kung kinsa’y gasugo nimo basin maluoy pa ko nimo (Tell me who ordered the hit, I might even feel sorry for you),” she said.
Other witnesses also surfaced to testify that Gera was with Largo, who is reportedly his best friend.
A close-circuit television camera footage released by the Rsog 7 shows Largo inside a convenience store in Tayud, Liloan 30 minutes before Rupinta’s pick-up was seen on the road.
Witnesses in Ermita also told the police that Gera and Largo played for four hours at 2 p.m. last Thursday at Nov. 23 before leaving in haste after seeing Rupinta and Mendoza pull out of the barangay hall.
Police also recovered a mo- torcycle from Gera that he might have used as a getaway vehicle.
In a related development, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña challenged Barug Team Rama to invite Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) Secretary General Pantaleon Alvarez to join Rupinta’s funeral.
“I challenge them to invite Alvarez to join the funeral of Imok because PDP-Laban lost one their biggest allies in Cebu,” Osmeña told reporters yesterday.
The mayor believes that Rupinta was not the only village chief in the city involved in narco-politics.
“There are others in other barangays, such as Pasil, Suba, Duljo-Fatima, Calamba and Lorega San Miguel. These are the same barangays that brought the biggest crowds in the PDP-Laban rally (last Nov. 17). I am bringing it up because I want people to be aware that he (Rupinta) was not an exception. Birds of the same feather, flock together,” Osmeña added.
Osmeña also said he is unfazed by the pronouncement of the opposition that they plan to sue him for maligning Rupinta.
Former mayor Michael Rama, in a phone interview with SunStar Cebu, said their group is concentrating on the investigation of Rupinta’s case, especially on the arrest of the mastermind.
“Pahuwata sa siya (Let him wait). (Imok) was mocked. A person has a right, from womb to tomb. Bisan patay kay naay katungod ( Even the dead has rights),” he said.
Osmeña, for his part, stood pat that he sees the village chief’s death as a good development for Ermita.
He lamented that slain drug lords Cresostomo “Tata Negro” Llaguno, Rowen “Yawa” Secretaria and Franz Sabalones prospered in the area during Rupinta’s stint.
The mayor added that it is only in Ermita where tanods shoot a suspected snatcher in their custody.
“Finally, my message to Rama, (Councilor Joel) Garganera, whatever… how come when Rupinta was suspended, none of them went to him to offer help except for (Presidential Assistant for the Visayas) Michael Dino? Now that he’s dead, he’s like a loved one. They’re hypocrites, just trying to politicize para makasakay sila (so they can jump on the bandwagon),” Osmeña said.
Isulti kung kinsa’y gasugo nimo basin maluoy pa ko nimo. JOCELYN MENDOZA Rupinta’s Common-Law Wife