Negros Oriental police confronted with quadruple murder case
A YOUNG woman, the mother of a 3-year-old girl and an 8-year-old boy, was one of three persons shot dead in Valencia, Negros Oriental in the evening of February 8. Karen had gone to the local police station to fetch Tim Moerch, her estranged husband. The 45-year-old Dane had been arrested shortly before 2 a.m. the day before on suspicion of having committed murder. Moerch and Maila Ozoa Cagas, 40, reported to be his live-in partner, were both released from detention on orders of the provincial prosecutor: the arrests were invalid.
Moerch and Cagas went their separate ways upon leaving the police station. But not long after, both were shot dead. Karen was collateral damage.
The Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-Region 7) has formed a special investigation task group (SITG) headed by Col. Reynaldo Lizardo, the chief of the Negros Oriental Provincial Police, and supervised by Col. Noel Realeza Flores, deputy regional director for operations. Lizardo is about two months into his job as provincial director. This SITG, while named after the Danish victim, has four murders on its plate: those of the Dane, his (estranged) wife and his lady friend, which all occurred in the evening of February 8, and the February 5 (Sunday) murder of Don Paulo Zartega Teves, the younger brother of Valencia Mayor Edgar “Junjun” Teves Jr.
Moerch and Cagas, together with habal-habal driver John Edward Remollo, were suspects in the murder of the 42-year-old Teves. Remollo was arrested hours after Moerch — the prime suspect — and Cagas. He is cooperating with the authorities and has provided some details of what transpired at Moerch’s residence, the shooting of Teves and how the body was disposed of.
Teves’ body was wrapped in a blanket and a plastic bag, and dumped in a secluded area. It looked like another liquidation of which Negros Oriental has had plenty. The murder of Franzel Escalante in January 2021, and the double murder of Robby Batalla and Jennifer Garzola in February 2022 come to mind.
While killings in Negros Oriental are usually linked to the insurgency, drugs or intense political rivalry, the murder of Paulo Teves stemmed from a personal conflict between Dane and the victim.
It is hard to think of the February 8 triple murder — in two separate gun attacks — as anything other than retribution. Moerch, his wife and Cagas were shot dead not long after leaving the police station. No other angles have been mentioned. They were not involved in drugs, land disputes or politics.
Of course, the first victim, Paulo Teves, was a member of the powerful Teves clan which is headed by Rep. Arnie Teves of Negros Oriental’s third district. Valencia is part of the third district. However, we must not jump to conclusions but let the SITG do its job. The Danish Embassy reportedly reached out to Negros Oriental police to get information about the killing of Moerch and would expect updates. I assume that the embassy is interested in Moerch’s involvement in the murder of Paulo Teves as well.
Moerch’s mother appears to have settled permanently in Valencia sometime last year, about five years after her son made the Philippines his new home. Based on her public posts on Facebook, she paid for her son’s cremation and is now preparing to return to Denmark. This must be incredibly painful. Her son and the mother of her grandchildren were murdered in what was supposedly a peaceful, small town in a tropical paradise. This happened two days after her son was tagged as the prime suspect in a murder case. Policemen have been posted outside her residence; she has been told that she is not safe in Negros Oriental.
Tropical paradise Negros Oriental indeed is for many foreigners, including Scandinavians, who flee the cold weather and the high cost of living. Take a walk on Dumaguete City’s famous boulevard and you’ll see the “white” people in the sidewalk cafes. Valencia is a neighboring town.
Life goes on, except for the dead. Karen’s two children will grow up without their parents. Karen had nothing to do with the murder of Paulo Teves, she was not a suspect, but the persons who set out to avenge his death didn’t care.
The murder of Paulo Teves was a crime, and the police had determined what happened and identified the suspects. The release of Moerch and Cagas didn’t mean that they were getting away with murder. Moerch, being a foreigner, could easily have been prevented from leaving the country should he have tried to do so. The swiftness and violence of the attacks on the suspects is a slap in the face of the police and public prosecutor of Negros Oriental.