Air Force man shot, torched
She wanted a breakup. He refused. Now he’s dead, and she’s in jail.
Police are pursuing a love triangle in the horrific killing of Philippine Air Force Staff Sergeant Mark Herbert Oberes, 37, who was believed to have been mauled, stabbed, and shot before being burned alive in his own car on Wednesday night in Carcar City.
Six suspects are being linked to the killing, including Oberes’ former girlfriend Resamie Cabañog, 20; Cabañog’s suitor Engineer Joshua Garciano, 22; her mother Edna; a certain Tomas Isugan, who allegedly shot the victim and set his car ablaze; and two others.
About 30 kilometers away from Carcar earlier that night, Talisay City police first received a shooting alarm at Corazon Village 2, Sitio Isla Verde in Barangay San Isidro, where Cabañog lives.
But according to Inspector Inar Vic Florece, deputy chief of Talisay City police, responding officers were not able to find any victim in the area.
What they discovered were one deformed slug, two empty shells of caliber .45 bullets, one live ammo of caliber .45, one shovel with bloodstains, a 13inch knife, a slipper, and a magazine loaded with six ammo.
Initially, a concerned citizen tipped the police that Cabañog’s lover Garciano may be the victim because residents spotted his brown Nissan Almera car in the place. Locals recognized Garciano because, being an engineer, he oversees a construction project in the village.
When police contacted Garciano, however, he said he was not actually the victim, so authorities invited him for questioning, to which he agreed on the condition that police meet him in Minglanilla.
There, in a subdivision, he was onboard his car with Cabañog when he met the arriving policemen.
Upon inspection of the car, police found near the passenger seat the other piece of the slipper they earlier discovered at Corazon Village.
Although it was not yet clear who owned the slippers, the discovery further raised police suspicions that the two may have been involved in the shooting.
BREAKUP
Senior Police Officer 1 Jason Del Campo said Cabañog recently ended her relationship with Oberes.
However, Oberes could not allegedly accept the breakup. In fact, in his alternate social media account, he reportedly posted pictures of him and Cabañog together before the killing took place.
Del Campo said Oberes also blackmailed Cabañog via private message that he would expose their sex video if she would not meet him in Talisay City that night.
Due to these threats, Cabañog’s mother Edna allegedly hired three men to harm Oberes.
The suspects initially planned to only hit, stab or punch Oberes. But when the victim allegedly resisted, it was then that the shooting ensued.
Garciano and Cabañog are now detained at the Talisay City Police Station.
VIOLENT RIDE
Speaking to reporters yesterday, Garciano said he was willing to become a witness to the case as he pleaded for his security.
He claimed he was still courting Cabañog and that they were not yet officially in a relationship but Cabañog, in a separate interview, said Garciano was already her new boyfriend.
Cabañog said that when Oberes learned of the new relationship, he allegedly threatened to kill the other two.
In his defense, Garciano said he merely drove Oberes’ white Suzuki Ertiga car on the way to Sitio Tal-ot, Barangay Valencia, Carcar City, where the victim and his car were set on fire. With Garciano on the car were Oberes, Edna, and Cabañog.
Garciano’s car tailed on, driven by Isugan with the company of the two other suspects.
However, upon reaching Minglanilla, Edna and the two other men alighted from the vehicles and reportedly left for Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental.
Garciano said Isugan shot Oberes three times in Talisay, then twice in Carcar, adding that Edna also joined in stabbing the victim along the way, despite his pleas to stop.
He said Oberes was still alive and even screamed for his life when Isugan torched the vehicle.
Fire Officer 2 Ronald Redoblado of the Bureau of Fire Protection in Carcar City said the car was still in flames when they responded to the scene in Sitio Talot at around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday.
When the flames were contained, they then discovered the charred
remains of a person.
PROFESSIONAL KILLER
Oberes was married with two children, lived in Barangay Sangi, LapuLapu City, and worked as an officer of the Philippine Air Force based in LapuLapu.
Oberes’ family – his wife Diana, father Solomon, and his mother – could not hide their emotions at the sight of the burnt remains yesterday morning in Carcar.
They positively identified Oberes because of a necklace taken from the fire site, as well as the car itself.
The family asked that a request for privacy be respected.
Superintendent Gregorio Galsim, Carcar City police chief, said they will wait for the BFP report on the fire incident and check if the crime was captured by closedcircuit television cameras in Carcar that could be used to support Talisay police’s investigation.
Galsim believed that the suspects knew the place well because it was also the same road that leads to the adjacent town of Aloguinsan to the west.
Sitio Tal-ot in Barangay Valencia is located about three kilometers away from the city proper.
Meanwhile, charges for murder and arson will be lodged against the suspects once they file their extra-judicial confessions with their lawyers, according to Superintendent Marlu Conag, chief of Talisay City police.
Talisay police will also coordinate with their counterparts in Guihulngan for the possible location of the other suspects, including Edna.
Police are also now verifying reports that Isugan is an alleged member of the New People’s Army.
Judging by the way Oberes was killed, authorities said it could be the doing of a professional killer.