Espinosa Murder; 4 more suspects under police cust

Four more suspects in the Aug. 9 assassination of Masbate City Mayor Moises Espinosa Jr., including two brothers of an incumbent vice mayor, are now under police custody.

Chief Superintendent Enrique Galang Jr., Bicol police director, said Charlie Quidato, former warden of the Masbate jail, was arrested last Saturday afternoon at his farm in Barangay Buenavista in Uson town.

Barely two hours after Quidato’s arrest, his brother, Isagani, voluntarily surrendered to Galang at the provincial police headquarters in Masbate City.

Escorting Isagani were his brother, Vice Mayor Arnel Quidato, acting provincial jail warden Alejandro Pardon and one Rod Rodriguez, an emissary of Masbate Gov. Antonio Kho.

Also nabbed were suspects Alex Alteza and Alberto Choy, both inmates at the provincial jail whom Charlie Quidato allegedly allowed to escape before the May 14 elections.

Police are investigating how Alteza and Choy, who face charges of rape and illegal possession of firearms, respectively, managed to get out of jail when records listed them as "detained prisoners."

Last Friday, the Masbate police reported the arrest of Rolando Boncaras, whom National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) director Reynaldo Wycoco earlier identified as one of the three triggermen in the Espinosa killing. The two others are Isagani Quidato and Alexander Bermoy.

Police records show Isagani has a standing warrant of arrest for rape, which Masbate Regional Trial Court Judge Jacinta Tambago issued on Oct. 30, 1999.

During the raid on Charlie Quidato’s farm, Galang and his men seized a 12-gauge shotgun, an M-16 rifle, a steel barrel containing magazines and ammunition for shotguns, and 127 M-16 bullets.

The two Quidato brothers, Alteza, Choy and Boncaras are all detained at the provincial jail. They are undergoing interrogation by members of Task Force Espinosa.

Espinosa was gunned down while attending a dance in the coastal village of Bantigue in the early morning of Aug. 9.