Cell phone in councilman's murder sent to crime lab

MANILA, Philippines - A cell phone that led to the arrest of a Caloocan City councilman’s alleged killer was sent to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) crime laboratary at Camp Crame to determine whether the suspect had been involved in other criminal activities.

Chief Inspector Rodrigo Soriano, Caloocan City police investigation chief, said they tapped the “expertise and technology” of the CIDG because alleged contract killer Jonathan Buenaflor, 26, and his group “might be involved in other crimes, considering that they are (reportedly) hired guns.”

Buenaflor and another suspect, Michael Rollon, 27, were caught on camera by Barangay 35 councilman Reynaldo Dagsa, who was taking pictures of his family, moments before he was shot dead on New Year’s Eve.

Buenaflor lost his cell phone as he was riding a bus bound for Isabela. A woman picked it up and turned it over to the police. Text messages on the cell phone led to Buenaflor and Rollon’s arrest and that of their alleged cohorts.

The messages also linked Buenaflor and Rollon to the murder of Elpidio de Juan in Tondo, Manila on Dec. 31, 2010. These also led police to their suspected handler and financier, Rogelio Manguni, alias Roger Piano, a piano repairman.

SPO4 Rafael Melencio, investigator of the Manila Police District homicide section, said yesterday he would file charges today against Buenaflor, Rollon and Manguni for De Juan’s killing.

The Caloocan City police are still searching for Manguni and the two other suspects in Dagsa’s killing, Rommel Oliva and Francis Bronjal.