Esperat slay: 2 DA execs ordered arrested

GENERAL SANTOS CITY — A Tacurong City judge has ordered the arrest of two Region 12 officials of the Department of Agriculture (DA) who allegedly masterminded the killing of newspaper columnist Marlene Esperat last March 24.

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales has directed all law enforcement agencies, particularly the National Bureau of Investigation, to effect the arrest warrants which Judge Francis Palmones of Regional Trial Court Branch 20 issued last Friday.

The two regional DA officials, finance officer Osmeña Montaner and accountant Estrella Sabay, were implicated in the murder by Army Sgt. Rowie Barua who claimed that they paid his group P120,000 to kill Esperat.

Barua, who claimed to be a bodyguard of Sabay, was one of the four suspects earlier arrested and charged for the murder.

Gonzales said he was giving Montaner and Sabay only a few days to give themselves up.

"We cannot give them ample time to surrender because the hold departure order issued against them cannot guarantee that they would not slip out the country," he said.

Esperat, a hard-hitting columnist of the Midland Review, was shot dead inside her home in Tacurong City on Maundy Thursday.