Contractor linked to mayor’s killing
Top police officials present findings after arrest of suspects, surrender of accomplice
Pieces of the puzzle in the killing of Mayor Ferdinand Bote of General Tinio, Nueva Ecija province, are falling into place, according to police. A contractor was tagged as mastermind following confessions made by two arrested suspects and another who surrendered. The case was far from solved, however, as the alleged mastermind and several other still unidentified suspects remained at large.
Police tagged a contractor as a possible mastermind in the killing of Mayor Ferdinand Bote, of General Tinio town, Nueva Ecija province, following the arrest of the suspected gunmen and the surrender of an accomplice.
The contractor, Christian Manlutac Saquilabon, owner of the company Forthright Construction, had a P96-million tourism infrastructure project in Bote’s town.
In a press conference on Monday at Camp Crame, the Philippine National Police (PNP) headquarters, police said the arrested suspects—Florencio Suarez and Robert Gumatay—and surrendered accomplice Arnold Gamboa issued “extrajudicial confessions” pointing to Saquilabon as the mastermind.
Quarrel
Suarez and Gumatay were arrested at a checkpoint in Camarines Sur province on Wednesday while Gamboa, who drove the getaway vehicle used in the killing of Bote, surrendered to authorities.
“The motive is associated with a quarrel over projects and business contracts,” said Chief Supt. Amador Corpus, Central Luzon police director, at the press conference.
Corpus quoted the confessed suspects as saying Saquilabon had bagged a P96 million contract for the Minalungao Tourism Convergence Zone project by the Department of Public Works and Highways in General Tinio.
Saquilabon ordered the hit on Bote for an initial payment of P25,000, Corpus said, because the mayor had been exerting too much pressure on the contractor.
Key witness
but said as mayor, Bote would have to issue permits for government projects and himself owned a construction company.
The connection began to unravel with a witness identifying Gumatay as one of the motorcy- cle-riding gunmen in Bote’s killing.
A Toyota Avanza used to pick up the suspects a kilometer from the crime scene was seen in security footage in the village of Imelda, Cabanatuan City.
On the day of Bote’s killing on July 3 outside the National Irrigation Adminisration compound in General Tinio, the Avanza was seen entering the Iglesia ni Cristo compound on Zulueta Street also in Cabanatuan, leading to Gamboa’s identification.
Found in CamSur
It was this car that was being used by Gumatay and Suarez when they were flagged at a checkpoint in Bicol on July 11. Found in the vehicle were two firearms used in the killing of Bote.
Corpus said the suspects confessed that eight people were involved in the assassination plot.
Aside from the three suspects already under police custody and Saquilabon, police also identified a certain Jun Fajardo as among those involved. Fajardo was the “spotter” for the gunmen.
Three other suspects have not been identified.
Saquilabon and Fajardo were at large. Albayalde said police are not discounting “there may be someone higher” than Saquilabon in the plot.
Police would request that a hold departure order be issued for Saquilabon as soon as the murder case against him was filed, according to Albayalde.