'Not Boratong henchman who killed our sons'

MANILA, Philippines – The mothers of two teenagers who were murdered in a road rage incident in Pasig City five years ago insisted yesterday that it was not the ex-cop henchman of shabu flea market operator Amin Imam Boratong who killed their sons.

Teresa de la Cruz, 41, and Ma. Donna Gaveria, 39, claimed that they have strong evidence to indict PO1 Bedo Montefalcon in the killing of their sons Alvin de la Cruz and Doni Dale Gaveria.

The duo told The Star that their three witnesses are more credible than a lone witness, Alberto Macafe, who pointed to ex-PO2 Ramil Along as the gunman in the incident on May 25, 2005.

They expressed strong belief that Macafe pointed to Along to save the skin of Montefalcon, who has gone hiding after an arrest warrant was issued against him for the twin killings.

Teresa pointed out that their three witnesses have a clear view of the face of the gunman as they were with the victims when the incident happened.

“Macafe was located several yards away from the crime scene while our three witnesses were with the victims in a tricycle so I think we have a strong case against Montefalcon,” said Teresa in Filipino.

She identified Along as the gunman in the killing of Gaveria and Alvin through pictures shown him. He said Along “frequented our barangay where the shabu tiangge is located.”

Along was arrested recently by agents of the Eastern Police District during a buy-bust operation. He yielded another 11 sachets of shabu. He is now being detained at the Nagpayong jail.

The two housewives claimed the killing of their sons is not related to the shabu tiangge.

In his statement, government witness Samer Palao, who played a key role in the conviction of Boratong and his second wife, Sheryl Molera, said that Along and his companions killed a “wrong target.”

Palao said Boratong ordered Along to kill a certain Bugoy for the latter’s failure to remit thousands of pesos in shabu pushing business. But Along killed instead Gaveria and Alvin, who were both aged 17 years old when they were killed.

According to the two housewives, the testimony of Macafe would not distract them from pursuing the double murder and multiple murder cases against Montefalcon.

“We want justice for the killing of our two teenage sons,” they said.

The case against Montefalcon is handled by Judge Rodolfo Aguinaldo, of the Pasig City regional trial court (RTC).