9 suspects eyed in Cinco ambush

Investigators of the Nov. 20 fatal ambush of Commission on Elections information chief Velma Cinco is now in the process of cross matching sketches of the two alleged trigger men with the faces and profiles of at least nine suspects in the case.

According to a source privy to the investigation, the cartographic sketches proved to be the biggest breakthrough of the case.

"We now have the faces to match with the suspects. We now have the faces to match with their names and profiles," said the source.

The source added that investigators would attempt to question anew the employees and officials of the Comelec about the two police sketches.

According to the source, the suspects are all linked to a Comelec official. One of the suspects was reportedly a former Army soldier who allegedly served as a bodyguard of the former Comelec official.

"There is a possibility that the suspects were well trained with the use of firearms as shown by the way the shooting was done," said the source.

Meanwhile, though Laverne Manzano, a clerk at the Comelec, did not match either of the two sketches, investigators still tag him as a suspect, said the source.

The source said investigators are looking into reports that there was another man aboard a motorcycle who reportedly served as a lookout during Cinco’s shooting.

The source said that the third man, who was described by the victim’s 47-year-old sister Marian Jayme as wearing a bonnet and a crash helmet, peered inside the victim’s car shortly after the shooting as if checking whether Cinco was still alive.

Manzano, 32, of 832 J. Rizal St., Makati City, was earlier nabbed by agents of the NBI’s National Capital Region while leaving the Comelec building in Intramuros, Manila.

According to the NBI, Manzano, who is employed as a clerk at the Comelec’s Education and Information Department, was allegedly asked by an official to act as a personal "back-up" bodyguard. Seized from Manzano was a Luger 9 mm pistol. Manzano, who have been working at the Comelec since 1997, said he is willing to cooperate with the investigation.

Manzano was later released by the NBI after proving that his gun was properly licensed. His gun however is still being subjected by the Western Police District’s Task Force Cinco and the NBI to a joint ballistic tests.

Recovered from the crime scene were five spent 9 mm shells. Five 9 mm slugs were meanwhile taken from Cinco’s body.

On Monday, the Task Force Cinco of the Western Police District the other day released sketches of the two alleged trigger men.

Investigators remain doubtful that Manzano’s gun will be matched with the shells and the slugs.

"Based on our experience, trigger men do not use licensed guns in their operations," said one investigator.

One of the suspects was described by a male witness as between 39-45 years of age, brown complexion, about five-foot tall and of muscular built. The other suspect, who was sketched wearing a bonnet, was described to be of slim built, about 35-40 years of age, about five-foot tall and of fair complexion.

According to Senior Superintendent Federico Castro, chief of the WPD’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU) and spokesman for Task Force Cinco, the witness allegedly saw the two men apparently waiting for someone at a gasoline station at the corner of Tejeron and Pedro Gil streets at about 7:00 a.m., the same day Cinco was killed.

Castro said the witness, a man who was waiting for a rider at that time, saw the two suspects before they wore their bonnets, helmets and dark eyeglasses to hide their faces.