Slay raps filed vs Pangasinan gov, solon; boy is gov’t witness

THE CASE had almost gone cold. But a surprising twist involving a young boy’s complaints of child abuse led the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to file a murder complaint yesterday against Pangasinan Gov. Amado Espino Jr. and the province’s first district representative, Jesus Celeste, for the killing of Infanta town mayor Ruperto Martinez in December last year.

The murder complaint also included Jaime Aquino, publisher of the Pangasinan weekly tabloid “Northern Star,” whose 16-year-old son emerged as the surprise NBI witness in the case against him, Espino and Celeste.

The boy, whose name was withheld by the Department of Justice because he is a minor, had sought the help of social welfare authorities reportedly to escape an abusive father. In the process of retelling his alleged experiences of abuse, the Martinez murder plot was revealed.

Contacted by the INQUIRER, Celeste immediately denied the charges, saying “that’s ridiculous.” Espino could not be immediately reached for comment.

Justice Secretary Leila De Lima said the boy is now under the government’s Witness Protection Program.

An NBI Special Task Force had investigated the claims of the boy who had taken refuge at the Akap sa Bata Philippines center on Dec. 26 last year.

In his Jan. 8 sworn affidavit, done with the assistance of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the boy said he had accompanied his father on a trip to Iba, Zambales sometime in November 2011. There his father met with Zambales Gov. Hermogenes Ebdane together with Espino and Celeste.

The boy said he heard Espino tell Ebdane that Martinez knew about the “itim na bato (black stone).”

“Sinabi po ni Gov. Ebdane bahala na daw po si Gov. Espino dahil siya naman ang taga- Pangasinan (Gov. Ebdane said it will be Gov. Espino who should take care of it because he was from Pangasinan),” the boy said in his affidavit.

After the meeting in Iba, they went back to Pangasinan and proceeded to the El Pescador Beach Resort in Bolinao. In discussions there, the boy claimed he heard the governor saying that “Mayor Martinez needed to be killed because he might be implicated about the black stone.”

The boy did not know what the black stone thing with Martinez was all about. But Congressman Celeste (say) reportedly said there was no problem because “he had many of these,” said the boy, who then gestured to show a handgun.

Celeste then allegedly called a manwhom he identified as “Kardo,” and said he would be the one who would do the killing. In that meeting, the boy also said he saw Celeste give his father a wad of money amounting to P100,000 and heard the congressman say it was his father’s share from jueteng (an illegal numbers game).

The boy claimed he saw Kardo again on Dec. 14 when he and his father again went to the same beach resort to get his father’s share of jueteng money. He said he heard Celeste tell Kardo to go to the house of Mayor Martinez because he wanted to know if the latter was really dead.

The boy said he learned of Martinez’ death when he saw a news report about it on television the next day. The boy said he asked his father if the dead mayor was the one being plotted about by the governor and was told it was him, and that he should shut his mouth.

Reacting to the story of the child witness, Celeste told the INQUIRER, “someone is manipulating the case to implicate us in that nonesense.”

Espino could not be immediately reached for comment.