Dagsa slay suspects tagged in another New Year's murder

MANILA, Philippines - The alleged killers of a Caloocan City councilman, caught by the victim’s camera pointing a gun at him moments before he was shot dead, were also tagged in another New Year’s revelry murder in Tondo, Manila.

Caloocan City police chief Senior Superintendent Jude Santos said Arnel Buenaflor, 26, and Michael Rollon, 27 – the prime suspects in the murder of Barangay 35 councilman Reynaldo Dagsa – are also the suspects in the slay of 44-year-old painter Elpidio de Juan in Tondo.

“Both Buenaflor and Rollon were identified by witnesses during a police lineup as the motorcycle-riding gunmen who shot and killed De Juan on the night of Dec. 31 in which two other persons were also wounded,” Santos told The STAR yesterday.

Richel Capulong, 32, De Juan’s sister, said her brother was having a street party with his neighbors along Molave street when he was gunned down at around 8:30 p.m.

Santos said based on the text messages they read off Buenaflor’s cell phone, a certain Rogelio Manguni, alias Roger Piano, appeared to be the suspects’ handler and financier.

“We uncovered that the suspects were paid P10,000 each for the hit and it was Piano who was giving them instructions and directions where to get their payment,” Santos said.

According to Capulong, Manguni is her slain brother’s neighbor in Tondo but the suspect disappeared from the area when news of the arrest of Buenaflor and Rollon came out.

Santos said De Juan’s murder bolstered his earlier claim that members of Buenaflor’s group are contract killers, but added that the two killings are not related.

Chief Inspector Rodrigo Soriano, Caloocan City police investigation chief, said they already sent the recovered .9mm pistol shell recovered from De Juan’s murder to the crime laboratory to determine whether it would match the .9mm gun used in Dagsa’s killing.

He said they would also send a formal request to the Bureau of Immigration to include Manguni on their “hold order list,” because the suspect has siblings in other countries.

But despite the arrest of Buenaflor and four other suspects – his girlfriend Loraine Castro, Rollon and live-in partner Gina Inderes, and Frederick Sales – Dagsa’s widow, Arlene, said they are still worried for their safety.

“Buenaflor’s group is really notorious here in our area and we have heard that they are also contract killers. I hope the police would soon get the other suspects,” she said.

Arlene said she is not sure whether Buenaflor’s motive in killing her husband was personal or somebody hired him.

She said that based on a bullet hole found in a car parked in front of their house, at least two gunmen shot her husband. Only one gunman, Buenaflor, has been arrested so far.

Meanwhile, Soriano said intelligence head Chief Inspector Chris Galvez, Police Officers 3 Eduardo Ronquillo and Benjie Tiu, and Police Officers 2 Carlo Hernandez and Angelito Gagarin were given medals by Philippine National Police chief Director General Raul Bacalzo for arresting Dagsa’s alleged killers.