Ex-mayor’s killer was professional hitman – MPD

The assassination of a former mayor of a Misamis Occidental town outside a Manila courtroom Tuesday morning was well-planned and carried out by a professional killer, the police said yesterday.

The lone gunman may have been backed up by at least five lookouts when he shot Reynaldo Yap, former mayor of Sapang Dalaga town, while the latter was waiting for the court to start his trial for murder, according to Chief Inspector Dominador Arevalo Jr., who heads the homicide section of the Manila Police District (MPD).

Investigators found that the gunman was observed talking on his cell phone shortly before shooting Yap.

The gunman also easily escaped by blending with the crowd. Police sources said only a professional hired killer could execute such a well-planned assassination. There were eyewitness accounts that the gunman – described as between 34 and 39 years old, at least five feet and eight inches tall, weighing at least 200 pounds and with close-cropped hair – was wearing a shirt bearing the word “police” on the back.

“He really was well-prepared for the execution,” Arevalo said.

The Yap family is calling for justice for the former mayor, Arevalo was informed during his meeting with the family yesterday at a funeral home in Parañaque City.

Roy Yap, the slain former mayor’s elder brother, also requested the MPD to form a task force to solve his murder.

Arevalo said investigators are now more focused on political vendetta as the possible motive for the shooting.

Investigators learned that Yap was the fifth member of his family to be assassinated in connection with their political feud with the Cevedo clan, who has lost four members, including Mayor Vicente Cevedo.

Yap was shot five times while waiting to attend a hearing outside the courtroom of Judge Zenaida Daguna. He was accused of masterminding the killing of rebel returnee Julie Ontolan in 1989.

Two others were injured in the shooting: Peter Sabihon Jr., 37, one of Yap’s bodyguards; and Bella Santos, 70, a member of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption.