‘Task Force Uson’ formed to solve slay

Police in Pangasinan have formed a task force to speed up the solution of the murder of a judge who was shot last Friday by four suspected hit men.

Oscar "Gary" Uson, 56-year-old judge of the Tayug Regional Trial Court’s Branch 52, was ambushed in Asingan town by four motorcycle-riding gunmen while on his way to the provincial capital of Dagupan City, police said.

In forming "Task Force Uson," Regional police commander Chief Superintendent Arturo Lomibao expressed confidence that the case could be solved within a week.

"Several witnesses to the killing have volunteered to give information which could lead to an early solution of the case," he said.

Lomibao said the suspects may also be the ones who ambushed a former government official hours before Uson was killed.

Lawyer Albert Buyawe, a former Department of Finance official, and his driver, Alfonso Buclay, were wounded also by gunmen aboard two motorcycles in nearby Sta. Maria town at around 10:15 a.m., Lomibao said.

Buyawe, who was on his way to attend a wedding, was hit in the chest while Buclay was hit in the left arm, police said. Both were taken to an undisclosed hospital and declared out of danger.

Lomibao said investigators are trying to determine if the two incidents were connected.

He told reporters it was possible that the gunmen may have mistaken Buyawe for Uson. "They could have been chanced upon by the same suspects waiting for Uson to pass by. They have no relation whatsoever," he said.

"I have ordered investigators to submit all slugs and empty shells in both incidents to the PNP Crime Laboratory (for analysis)," Lomibao said.

He added the color of Buyawe’s pick-up truck nearly matched that of Uson’s Mercedes-Benz. Uson was waylaid at around 4 p.m. on the Narciso Ramos Bridge which connects the towns of Asingan and Sta. Maria.

Investigators found six caliber .45 shells at the scene. Uson died from three gunshot wounds, one under his left ear.

"Judge Uson had a maroon car that almost matched that of Buyawe whose Nissan Frontier was dark red," Lomibao said.

Police believe the killing was connected to either a case already decided by Uson or one still pending in his court.

One possibility, police said, is that a local criminal gang with links to local politicians — known as the "Aguila gang" — was involved. Some of the gang’s members were jailed in the past by Uson.

"Spare no one in the investigation," Lomibao told his men.

Family members said Uson received constant death threats and refused advice to hire a bodyguard, preferring instead to carry a gun.

"I’ll die with a clean conscience. I’ll die for my country," Loreta de los Santos quoted her brother as saying, adding that the judge had premonitions that he might be killed "anytime."

De los Santos had earlier appealed to President Arroyo for assistance in solving the murder.

The victim’s wife, Estrellita, told reporters that she spoke with her husband on the phone the night before he was killed.

He told her to take good care of their children, Gary Genedel and Margaux, she said. "Please tell Gary Genedel to finish his medicine course and tell him not to get married yet," Estrellita quoted her husband as saying.

"Mama, you take care, too" were his last words to her.

Uson’s remains lie at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Dagupan. His interment is on Wednesday.

For the past weeks, Estrellita said her husband had been scheduling outings with their children to make up for lost time because of work.

"It’s saddening because this happened just when he had more time with our children," she said.

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Loren Legarda denounced the killing of Uson "as a cowardly attack" and urged police to "spare no effort in bringing to swift justice" Uson’s killers.

"The full measure of the law must be brought to bear upon those responsible for this atrocity," she said in a statement. — With Christina Mendez, Myds Supnad, Cesar Ramirez