Brains in Bacalla murder nabbed by NBI, PNP men

The alleged mastermind in the kidnapping and murder of a son of the late Quezon City Judge Marciano Bacalla was arrested by joint agents of the National Bureau of Investigation and Philippine National Police yesterday.

Onofre "Jun" Surat, 38, owner of the CBR Club in Lagro, Quezon City, admitted in a news conference that he, along with doorman Rodrigo Catungal, 22, and waiter Jerro Garcia, 22, abducted and killed 24-year-old Mark Bacalla on May 3.

"My wife Edna has nothing to do with this. There were only three of us when we did this. It was not our intention to kill (Mark) but he put up a fight," he said in Filipino when asked by reporters if the charges were true.

Surat thus said after NBI director Reynaldo Wycoco said his wife would also be charged with kidnapping for ransom with homicide. A separate charge of illegal possession of firearms was also filed with the Quezon City prosecutor’s office against Surat for his having an unlicensed 9 mm pistol.

A brief melee ensued after the suspects were presented to media, when Mrs. Ofelia Bacalla pummeled the handcuffed Surat, and relatives joined in, ganging up on him. "Hayop ka, hayop ka," Bacalla shouted. "Matagal ko nang kinikimkim ito, mas mahirap mawalan ng anak kaysa asawa," the crying widow said. The scuffle lasted for about five minutes before NBI and PNP agents could separate the irate relatives from the handcuffed suspects.

Mrs. Bacalla had joined Wycoco, Justice Secretary Hernando Perez, PNP-Intelligence chief Reynaldo Berroya and Chief Supt. Nestor Gualberto, head of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, in the press conference.

Surat was collared by NBI agents of the Special Action Unit headed by Edmund Arugay. Perez said the case is now considered "solved" with the arrest of the mastermind and his cohorts, whom Wycoco said are "amateur kidnappers."

The Bacalla family paid P142,000 in ransom on May 8. A second payment was made nine days later when the family shelled out P490,000. At this juncture, another suspect, Zaldy Cariño, was arrested and charged along with five others.

Berroya said Cariño, who received the ransom, was "positively identified" by Mrs. Bacalla. He is now detained at the CIDG jail in Camp Crame, along with the other suspects.

The young Bacalla’s body was dumped in Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija on May 17.

Wycoco said the victim was a friend of Surat who was invited by the latter (his kumpadre) to attend his "birthday party’ on the evening of May 2 at his club where they had a drinking session till 1 a.m.

Then, Surat offered to bring the victim home, using his Honda Civic, with Catungal and Garcia. While Surat was driving, Garcia gagged the victim and Catungal tried to tie him up; but the victim resisted and the suspects mauled him to death.