Aklan mayor charged for slay of broadcaster

I had just arrived from Manila when I read the report of Nestor Burgos in the Visayan Daily Star that the Aklan Provincial Prosecutor’s Office had indicted Lezo, Aklan Mayor Fred Arcenio and an unidentified companion for the slaying of broadcaster Herson "Boy" Hinolan last year.

Assistant Prosecutor Apolinario Barrios junked Arcenio’s alibi that he was in Lezo when Hinolan was gunned down in Kalibo, Aklan’s capital town, some 10 kilometers away.

Barrios pointed out that this "cannot prevail over the positive identification of the mayor as the alleged gunman by witnesses."

Arcenio, who has yet to receive a copy of the prosecutor’s resolution, said he will consult his lawyer for his next move, stressing that like the Hinolan family, he also wants justice.

The Aklan police had earlier filed murder charges against Arcenio when Peter Melgar identified the mayor as the alleged gunman in the Nov. 13 gun slaying of 35-year-old Hinolan near the Kalibo carnival.

Actually, Hinolan was the Bombo Radyo station manager of Kalibo and was host of the morning program "Bobohanay Bigtime."

Barrios said the murder charge was changed to homicide because there was no evidence that the shooting was premeditated since Melgar only saw the actual shooting and had no knowledge of preceding events.

Arcenio was a former Master Sergeant of the Philippine Army who vied for a seat in the town council in the 2001 local elections.

Well, at least, this is one of the few instances of newsmen’s murders where the alleged culprit was charged in court. Now, the country’s journalists must follow up the other cases and find out whether a positive decision by the courts can also be obtained.

Hinolan was the 13th journalist murdered last year. All the rest of the cases remain unsolved.

Acetylene Gang Leader Nabbed Anew

Police investigators in San Carlos City, Bacolod and Canlaon were frustrated several weeks ago when the court approved the P24,000 bail of Acetylene Gang leader Peter Camed.

That was after the San Carlos City police had hoped that Camed’s arrest could pave the way for the filing of robbery charges against him and other gang members for a series of robberies of banks and pawnshops in Negros, Cebu and other places of the country.

On Saturday, a police team led by Senior Inspector Petronilo Garcia swooped down on the house of Flordeliza Jacube, Camed’s live-in partner in Barangay Mabigo, Canlaon City.

Armed with a search warrant issued by Guihulngan Regional Trial Court Judge Mario Trinidad, the raiders recovered 8.46 grams of suspected shabu and arrested Camed.

Garcia said they had conducted a test buy for prohibited drugs from Camed before they applied for a search warrant for violation of the Comprehensive Druga Act of 2002.

Camed was immediately placed behind bars in Canlaon City. The group reportedly carted away P1.9 million in cash and jewelry from the M. Luihiller Pawnshop of San Carlos City in August 2003.

San Carlos police chief Ricardo de la Paz claimed that Camed had admitted his participation in the RCBC Savings Bank robbery in Bacolod City in July last year. But the bank’s management still has to return the complaint affidavit and the inventory of losses to the police.

Police are still trying to convince the owners/operators of several pawnshops in Iloilo, Dumaguete City, Consolacion, in Cebu, Tagbilaran in Bohol, and Tangub City as well as Ozami City to file charges against Camed and his cohorts.

Other members of Camed’s group had been identified as Ricky Dacmeg, Julio Begking, and a certain Sagandoy and two others identified only as "Rene" and "Dennis."

Police noted that most of the gang members are Igorots.

The latest arrest of Camed may convince pawnshop owners and operators as well as bank officials to finally come forward to have him prosecuted.

Hinobaan Exec Takes On MARICOM

There’s something strange going on in Southern Negros Occidental. There Hinobaan Mayor Francisco Bilbao has kept a feud with the Maritime Command (MARICOM) for allegedly not coordinating with him in the apprehending illegal fishers in the town’s municipal waters, the latest of which was the apprehension of the motorboat Jocelyn, by the MARICOM team headed by SPO3 Eduardo Visca some 2.6 kilometers from Hinobaan’s coastline.

Jocelyn is a 6.7-ton fishing boat reportedly operating with no permit and was using illegal active fishing gear.

Bilbao, when contacted by the Visayan Daily STAR, claimed he was not aware of the apprehension. He added that Maricom does not coordinate with him in its campaign against illegal fishing.

So far, the Maricom had already apprehended more than 10 fishing boats illegally operating just beyond the Hinobaan shoreline.

PNP Superintendent Charles Calima, Negros PNP provincial commander, is arranging a dialog between Bilbao and Maricom authorities to resolve their differences. Bilbao has been insisting that the Maricom should inform him about operations they are launching in Hinobaan.

But I learned from a Maricom official that their initial apprehensions had been conducted only after they had informed the municipal government about their move.

Later, however, it seems that instead of congratulating Maricom for its assistance in the campaign against illegal fishing, the mayor kept pummeling the national agency for violating the devolution of the campaign and for non-coordination with local officials.

A very strange outcry from a town mayor whose Bantay Dagat program still has to report an achievement on illegal fishing.

Ceneco Linemen Nabbed For Extortion

Kudos to the Bacolod police. Last week they nabbed two employees of the Central Negros Electric Cooperative (CENECO) for allegedly extorting money from customers.

Police recovered P6,000 in marked money from Alfonso Blanca Aplasca, 28, of Villa Angela, Barangay Villamonte; and Romy Dulaca Villarosa, 45, of Barangay Tangub.

The complainant, Michelle Tillaman, claimed that the duo asked for P21,000 as service fee for the transfer of her electrical meter without proper notice from the CENECO management.

Police detained the two pending the filing of charges against them.

As often pointed out, it’s not just government officials and employees who are into graft and corruption. Now, it is apparent that even private employees are also engaged in it. That, of course, remains to be proven in court.