Raps filed vs 2 suspects in Leyte mayor’s slay

CEBU CITY — The city prosecutor’s office has filed murder charges in court against a law enforcer and a carpenter tagged as the alleged killers of Hindang, Leyte Mayor Roy Jumao-as and his son.

In a resolution, prosecutor Rodulph Joseph Carrillo said probable cause was established when the two respondents, policeman Marsan Roque Bisnar and carpenter Nedy Polistico, failed to submit evidence despite their request for a preliminary investigation.

Carrillo said there were indications of evident premeditation as witnesses testified that Bisnar and Polistico were allegedly at the crime scene before Jumao-as and his son, Jake, arrived.

"The allegations in the complaint, which have not been contested nor refuted, establish probable cause to charge (the) respondents with the crime of murder," Carrillo said.

"Treachery attended the commission of the crime as the suddenness of the respondents’ attack did not give the victims the opportunity to defend themselves," he added.

In an affidavit, one of the witnesses positively identified Polistico as one of the gunmen. Two other witnesses, on the other hand, tagged Bisnar in their sworn statements.

Elements of the Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Branch of the city police arrested Bisnar and Polistico last March 7 in Bisnar’s home in Barangay Mohon, Talisay City.

Bisnar has denied any involvement in the killing, saying that he was on duty as a beat policeman in Tipolo, Mandaue City at the time of the slaying.

For his part, Polistico said he came to Cebu from Inupakan, Leyte because Bisnar’s uncle hired him to do carpentry work for Bisnar’s house in Talisay.

Jumao-as and his son were gunned down as they alighted from a taxi in front of their rented apartment here last March 4. — Freeman News Service