Lawman tagged in ambush of Bayan Muna leader

A police corporal, who had served as a security aide and driver of a former police director of Kalinga, has been implicated in the ambush of a Bayan Muna leader and his family two months ago.

The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) has filed murder and frustrated murder charges against PO3 Jessie Caranto with the Kalinga prosecutor’s office.

Caranto served as a driver-bodyguard of Superintendent Pedro Ramos who was relieved as Kalinga police director last month, Director Jesus Verzosa, CIDG chief, said.

Several witnesses tagged Caranto as one of those who waylaid Dr. Constancio Claver, Bayan Muna Kalinga chapter chairman, his wife, Alice, also a leader of the militant party-list group, and their seven-year-old daughter in the early morning of July 31 in Kalinga.

Alice was killed with gunshot wounds in the head and neck, while Claver survived with bullet wounds in the chest, abdomen and left arm. Their daughter was grazed by a bullet on the head.

Verzosa said Caranto is a member of the Police Security and Protection Office of the Philippine National Police based at Camp Crame.

Investigation showed that the Claver couple and their daughter were cruising the national highway in Barangay Bulanao in Tabuk, Kalinga aboard a black Mitsubishi Pajero when a black Delica blocked their path.

Two of the occupants of the black Delica armed with M-16 rifles alighted and started firing at the Clavers. After the shooting, the armed men fled toward Tuguegarao City.

Witnesses told police that one of the gunmen wore a ski mask, while another — who turned out to be Caranto — did not bother to cover his face.

According to CIDG investigators, Caranto’s arrogance, apparently based on the premise that the attack lasting just a few seconds would prevent witnesses from recognizing him, proved to be his undoing.

A utility worker of the Kalinga provincial Capitol, who was at the scene when the ambush took place, identified Caranto as one of the gunmen.

Besides the ambush, Caranto was also tagged in the murder of barangay chairman Gabriel Lumbican and his father, Teodoro, last March 30.

Relatives of the Lumbicans identified Caranto as the assailant when they went to the Kalinga provincial police headquarters last July 25 to seek Ramos’ help.

In a joint sworn statement, Elizabeth Domingo and Vicenta Lumbican said Ramos casually introduced them to Caranto and described him as his "trusted friend and companion for more than 10 years."

According to Versoza, Domingo and Lumbican said they recognized that it was Caranto who resembled the artist’s sketch of one of the gunmen in the Clavers’ ambush when it appeared on posters and in newspapers.