DOJ seeks extradition of Mark Chua slay suspect

The Department of Justice (DOJ) will request the extradition of one of the four suspects in the killing of University of Sto. Tomas ROTC cadet Mark Welson Chua.

Justice Secretary Hernando Perez said yesterday the court has issued a warrant of arrest against the four accused and the justice department can now request the extradition of Michael Manangbao.

Manangbao reportedly fled to the United States before the criminal charge was filed against him in the Manila Regional Trial Court.

"We would like to inform you that the arraignment of the suspects has been scheduled for Feb. 28, 2002. We are also readying an extradition request for Michael Manangbao," Perez said.

The DOJ filed murder charges against former UST ROTC officers Paul Joseph Tan, Michael Von Rainard Manangbao, Eduardo Tabrilla, and Arnulfo Aparri, Jr in the Manila Regional Trial Court last January 24 for the killing of Chua in March 2001.

The justice department cleared three suspects, Patrick Christopher Cruz, Eliseo Pitargue Jr. and Emmanuel Rico Corpus for "insufficiency of evidence."

State Prosecutor Aristotle Reyes, head of the DOJ panel that conducted a preliminary investigation on the Chua slay, earlier said he will also ask the court to issue a hold-departure order on the other accused.

In a five-page resolution, Reyes said that five witnesses confirmed the presence of Chua and the four accused in the office of the UST’s Department of Military Science and Tactics on the night of March 15, 2001, the last day Chua was seen alive.

"The evidence sufficiently shows that all respondents, with the exception of Patrick Christopher Cruz, Emmanuel Rico Corpus, and Eliseo Pitargue Jr. are responsible for the death of Mark Welson Chua," Reyes said.

Witnesses Dennis Pamor, Charles Sison, Christopher Chua II, Edwin Cudiamat, and Franco Salvador, said they saw a person inside the DMST bound with packaging tape, whose body was later wrapped in a carpet.

Witness Jeremy Dunuan and Franco Suelto told the investigators that they were with Manangbao, Tabrilla and Tan on March 16, 2001 when they talked about disposing Chua’s body.

Dunuan and Suelto Manangbao, Tabrilla and Tan entered a room in an apartment the next day and came out dragging a rolled carpet which was loaded on a pick-up truck and thrown into the Pasig River. — Pia Lee-Brago