9 face raps for murder of mayor

CAMP ALEJO SANTOS, Malolos, Bulacan — Police filed murder charges yesterday against nine suspects in the ambush-slaying of the mayor of Doña Remedios Trinidad town and his two companions, including a policeman, last Monday.

Superintendent Emelito Sarmiento, Bulacan police director, said four policemen were also implicated in the killing of Mayor Esteban Paulino, PO1 Teofilo Avallanoza and Mariel Lim Venturina in Barangay Baybay, Angat town.

Two of the four lawmen, PO3 Felix Valencia and brother SPO1 Eduardo Valencia, are now under police custody. They tested negative for gunpowder burns, but their M-16 rifles yielded positive results in ballistic tests.

Paulino, Avallanoza and Venturina were aboard a government-issued Nissan Safari van when armed men wearing bonnets sprayed them with gunfire.

Police have a witness who was able to identify three of the suspects. The witness claimed to have driven an owner-type jeep the suspects used when their getaway vehicle — a passenger jeepney — fell into a ditch in Barangay Taboc, Angat town. — James Mananghaya, Ric Sapnu