Witness in Bersamin killing recants

Former constable Rufino Panday, who supposedly spilled the strategy to assassinate Abra Rep. Luis Bersamin Jr., has retracted his statement linking Abra Gov. Vicente Valera to the murder.

Senior Superintenent Franklin Mabanag, chief of the Quezon City Police District-Criminal Investigation Unit, said Panday’s lawyer, Galileo Angeles, went to the police headquarters yesterday and had Panday sign a four-page affidavit that he is recanting.

The affidavit, he said, is yet to be filed in court. Panday is currently detained at the QCPD-CIU.

QCPD chief Senior Superintendent Magtanggol Gatdula said Panday is pointing his finger at Mabanag and members of the QCPD-CIU as those responsible for the details he told investigators about the Bersamin killing.

Quoting from the affidavit, Gatdula said Panday claimed having been coerced by investigators into linking Valera to the murder.

The affidavit is reportedly based on a 21-page handwritten letter of Panday to Angeles. This letter purportedly contained alleged threats to his life by police investigators.

"That is absurd. All the details he provided police came from him," Gatdula said. "It would be impossible for us to plant the receipts for the motorcycle used in the incident. The person who sold the motorcycle positively identified him (Panday) as the one who bought the motorcycle." — Katherine Adraneda