Murder rap filed vs. Sison “killer”

The NBI yesterday filed murder charges against the alleged killer of lawyer Richard Sison shortly after the suspect, Nemuel Camay Sumabong, was presented to the media by Mayor Tomas Osmeña.

Sumabong, 30, a native of Bogo City, was arrested early Tuesday by a team of NBI agents on suspicion of being the alleged triggerman in the daylight shooting of Sison last May 21 at a busy intersection in Cebu City.

Sumabong, a first cousin of robbery gang leader Joel Sumabong, who pulled off the daring P10 million heist at a Land Bank branch in Bogo City, denied any involvement in the killing of the lawyer, whose most recent high-profile case was as defense counsel to Mayor Arturo Radaza of Lapulapu City in connection with the controversial Asean Summit lamppost scandal.

While no weapon was taken from Sumabong during his arrest at a rented house in barangay Camputhaw and that he did not appear in the list of suspects in the hands of the Cebu City police, still police chief Patrocinio Comendador said he will provide support to the case filed by the NBI even as his men will continue their own investigation.

Comendador said the police are following other angles in the murder of Sison based on the cases he had been handling, many of which involved drugs.

Sumabong reportedly bore a strong likeness to the cartograph done by an NBI artist based on accounts of witnesses to the killing. Two of the witnesses also positively identified him at a lineup following his arrest.

The NBI anchored its charges on this positive identification and the similarity of Sumabong to the cartograph.

Cebu City prosecutor Noel Cellona gave Sumabong a week to answer the charges.

Sumabong did not have a lawyer and was provided one in lawyer Jose Arnado. He will remain in NBI custody until the termination of his preliminary investigation by prosecutors.

The Integrated Bar of the Philippines Cebu City chapter, of which Sison was a member, said it well be helping in the prosecution of the case once it reaches the court.

IBP Cebu City president Joseph Briccio Boholst said he will create a legal panel for the purpose.

Osmena said City Hall will give incentives to the NBI agents responsible for the arrest of the suspect, saying it was a job well done.

He commended NBI regional director Medardo de Lemos and supervising sgent Rennan Augustus Oliva whom he interceded for to keep them in Cebu. De Lemos was to have been transfered to Davao while Oliva was to have been reassigned to Bohol.

Osmena also assured the Sison family that the investigation will not end until the mastermind in the killing is brought to justice.

“ It is not over yet. We will get to the bottom of this, ” the mayor said.

Radaza, on the other hand, said he was happy with the development but nevertheless urged the NBI to pursue the case until the mastermind is unmasked.

“ The mastermind or those behind the murder should be unmasked. And to this goal, I encourage the NBI and other agencies to work harder and put the perpetrators behind bars where they belong, ” Radaza said in a texted statement.

At the NBI office, Sumabong and the family of Sison had a highly-charged confrontation, with the widow of the lawyer cursing the suspect.

While Sumabong protested his innocence, he has also been identified by witnesses as among those who acted as backup to Army Sgt. Moises Ludoc, who stands accused of killing businessman and losing political candidate Renerio Arogante III in Daanbantayan last March. (/JST)