A suspect may have already been arrested and a criminal case filed in court but the local government of Bayawan City is not just about to release the P100,000 reward money it had offered earlier for the arrest, prosecution and conviction of suspects in the attempted assassination of Bayawan Councilor Victoriano Alabastro.
Bayawan Mayor Rene Gaudiel, however, assured that the reward money still stands, “because that was the commitment by the LGU (local government unit) in bringing about witnesses” who could shed light on the June 24, 2011 attempt on the life of Councilor Alabastro.
According to the mayor, he still has to verify the circumstances behind the arrest and prosecution of suspected gun-for-hire Herman Escora of San Roque, Bayawan City, who signed last Friday an extra-judicial confession that he was the team leader of a group contracted to kill Alabastro.
The Philippine National Police, represented by provincial police director Sr. Supt. Edward Carranza and the local office of the National Bureau of Investigation, headed by agent-in-charge Atty. Dominador Cimafranca, Jr., filed a frustrated murder charge against Escora and seven others, namely, Jasper Tanasan, also known as “Bobong Tanasan” and “Jasper Sulaiman” of GK Village; Arnulfo Teves, also known as “Arnie”, of Barangay Malabugas; Pacito Libron of Malabugas; Alex Mayagma, A.K.A. “Alex” of San Roque; Remy Deocares of Banga; all in Bayawan City; Rio Siason, alias Sitong and Jomar Nicor, alias “Ketot Magbanua” of Chavanan, Basay town in Negros Oriental.
Mayor Gaudiel, meanwhile, said the Bayawan local government must be cautious in releasing the P100,000 bounty, unless local officials have established who should receive it. He noted some instances where criminal charges are just being filed in court simply because of the lure of the reward money being offered.
Furthermore, releasing the reward money would be premature as the other suspects are still at large, and Escora could just be a “sacrificial lamb”, the mayor added.
When the P100,000 bounty was offered, the Bayawan LGU was hoping it would entice witnesses to come out in the open and provide information leading to the arrest, prosecution and conviction of the perpetrators, he said.
Witnesses usually fear repercussions when asked to testify in court, but with some compensation offered, some are willing to come out in the open and provide vital information on a particular case, Gaudiel noted.
Escora, along with another suspected gun-for-hire, Anthony Lutero, were arrested last November 10 in Barangay Bonawon, Siaton town, about an hour’s drive south of this capital.
At the time of their arrest, ranking police officials announced the two were believe to be out to kill Governor Roel Degamo. However, the suspects denied this, saying they were instead offered P100,000 to liquidate a certain Maurecio Sioko, a coordinator of the state-run Bingo Millions game in Bonawon, where the governor’s residence is also located.
Escora, in his extra-judicial confession, disclosed that he and the other suspects in the Alabastro slay-try, were offered P200,000 if they succeeded in killing the Bayawan councilor.