‘Hired killer’ faces charges

DAVAO CITY — Police have filed criminal charges against an alleged hired killer tasked to liquidate prominent politicians in the city, including Mayor Benjamin de Guzman and Rep. Rodrigo Duterte.

Senior Superintendent Wilfredo Garcia, city police chief, also linked the suspect, Romeo Baquirel, to the killings of policemen in the region in 1992 and 1994.

Baquirel faces charges of illegal possession of firearms, illegal gambling and usurpation of authority. He was arrested during a raid on his house in Bunawan district.

The police raiding team seized from Baquirel a nickel-chrome Colt .45 pistol with three bullets, and fake identification cards with the Philippine Maritime Auxiliary and Philippine National Police logos. — Edith Regalado