NAKTF chief Reyes disputes murder charges

National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force chief Angelo Reyes denied yesterday allegations that two of the four kidnapping suspects slain in the rescue of Gian Jethro Chua last year were actually NAKTF agents.

Reyes refuted the allegations made by the widow of Rogelio Ramoso, one of the suspects who were killed during the rescue of the seven-year-old Chua.

"Di totoo yan. Malabo namang masyado iyan. Kaya natin ipaliwanag iyan sa Ombudsman (That’s not true. Those accusations are false and I can prove this before the Ombudsman)," Reyes said.

Ramoso, his brother Ronaldo, Edwin Pastrana and Ricky Orihinal were killed after NAKTF agents tracked down the kidnappers’ lair in Mabitac, Laguna last Dec. 31.

The widow, Lorna Justine Ramoso, later accused Reyes of killing her husband. She claimed her husband had worked as a NAKTF "asset" for two years.

Orihinal’s widow, Shirley, also claimed her husband worked as a NAKTF asset before he was killed.

Reyes denied the allegations claiming he never knew the suspects. "Wala akong tauhan na ganyan ang pangalan (There’s no one with those names at NAKTF)," Reyes said.

Reyes stressed he will promptly answer the allegations against him and his men before the Ombudsman.

Ramoso claimed her husband was receiving P26,000 a month as agent’s pay aside from an M-16 rifle and a caliber .45 sidearm issued to him by NAKTF.

The two widows submitted a five-page complaint before the Ombudsman last Thursday accusing Reyes of ordering the summary execution of the two suspects.

Mrs. Romoso claimed she even talked to her husband an hour before the encounter in Mabitac took place.

"He told men he was just doing fine. And he told me not to worry. He said he was at Camp Crame at Pacer (Police Anti- Crime and Emergency Response) office. And that was 2 o’clock in the morning," she narrated.

Romoso claimed Chua had been in the custody of NAKTF all along under the care of a certain Col. Francisco Lanuza, in a safehouse somewhere in Makati City.

She claimed Reyes "casually instructed" her husband to transfer the boy to another safehouse in Calamba, Laguna.

"They were doing this to artificially create an atmosphere of violence intended to scare the Filipino-Chinese community and later secure their support after a series of cosmetically staged accomplishments where make-believe shootouts and rescues are the main ingredients," she said.

The two widows also included administration vice presidential candidate Sen. Noli de Castro in the charge sheet, alleging the lawmaker-broadcast journalist "covered up" Reyes’ misdeeds during the airing of "Magandang Gabi Bayan" (MGB) program over ABS-CBN -2 last Jan. 4.

Ramoso claimed MGB staff interviewed her over her husband’s death but footage of this was deliberately cut out during the airing of the program.

"Senator De Castro is a public official and being the host of a show that had in its possession material evidence on videotape with regards to proof of murder, he is criminally and morally liable for violating the Anti-Graft Law," she said.

Broadcast journalist Jiggy Manicad of GMA-7 was also included in the charges for allegedly conspiring with NAKTF.

Other respondents included Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr.; military intelligence chief Major Gen. Pedro Cabuay; Col. Francisco Lanuza, and NAKTF spokesman Col. Danilo Servando.

Among the police officials also charged were Director Ricardo de Leon, National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief; Chief Superintendents Reynaldo Varilla, Restituto Mosqueda; Senior Superintendents Allan Purisima, Edgar Danao and Senior Inspector Erwin Fernandez of NAKTF.

Reyes and NAKTF, however, found an ally in the Chinese Filipino community.

The Kaisa para sa Kaunlaran, a non-government organization that works for the integration of Chinese Filipinos into mainstream Philippine society, expressed their approval of government’s efforts to address the problem of kidnapping during a courtesy call on President Arroyo Thursday. — With Delon Porcalla, Marvin Sy