Esperat slay:Raps vs 2 aggie execs dismissed

TACURONG CITY — A regional trial court judge here has dismissed for lack of evidence the murder charges against two ranking agriculture officials in Central Mindanao both implicated in the killing last April of hard-hitting journalist Marlene Esperat.

In a ruling dated Aug. 31, RTC Judge Francisco Palmones said there was no sufficient evidence to link Hadji Osmena Montañer and Estrella Sabay, budget officer and accountant, respectively, of the Department of Agriculture’s Region 12 office to the killing.

Arrested suspects in the killing implicated Montañer and Sabay as the alleged masterminds.

Palmones, however, said there was no strong evidence that would point to Montañer and Sabay as the alleged brains of the murder.

A gunman casually walked inside the Esperat residence here last Maundy Thursday and shot the journalist with a caliber .45 pistol.

Four suspects, among them a member of the intelligence unit of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, have been arrested.

Esperat, a columnist of the Midland Review, a weekly newspaper here, was known for her scathing comments against public officials involved in graft and corruption.

Sources in the regional police command in General Santos City said their men are now looking into new angles in the Esperat killing that could lead them to the real masterminds.

Montañer, according to his relatives, will likely resume his work as budget officer of the DA-Region 12 office now that the charges against him have been dismissed.