Army man tagged in radioman’s slay yields

ZAMBOANGA CITY — The military yielded an Army sergeant tagged as the triggerman in the killing of a part-time radioman in Pagadian City, some 215 kilometers east of this port city, police said yesterday.

Senior Superintendent Ramon Ochotorena, Zamboanga del Sur police director, said Sgt. Herbert Liguan, assigned to the intelligence unit of the Army’s 1st Infantry Division, surrendered to the police after Judge Reynerio Ramas of Regional Trial Court Branch 18 issued the warrant for his arrest.

Ochotorena said Liguan, 46, a native of Bayog, Zamboanga del Sur, had been under military custody since he was implicated in the gunslaying of part-time radioman Rolly Cañete early this year.

"The Army 1st ID handed the subject after the warrant of arrest was served. He is now committed to the Pagadian City jail while awaiting trial," Ochotorena said in a phone interview.

Liguan’s fellow soldiers suspect that he could have just been framed up.

Police, however, said witnesses positively identified Liguan as the man who gunned down Cañete last Jan. 20 while he was on his way to the provincial capitol aboard a motorcycle.

Cañete was an information officer of Zamboanga del Sur Gov. Aurora Cerilles and hosted programs in two radio stations in Pagadian City.