Soldier tagged in slay try on broadcaster

COTABATO CITY – Police arrested an Army corporal, together with a civilian, for the 2005 slay attempt on a radio commentator in Kabacan, North Cotabato last Monday.

Inspector Miraluna Ortega, Kabacan police chief, said the suspects, Army Cpl. Alvaro Obregon and Ronilo Quinoñes, did not resist arrest after sensing that policemen had surrounded their hideout in Barangay Osias, Kabacan town.

Ortega said Obregon and Quiñones were wanted for the near-fatal shooting of Alberto Martinez on April 7, 2005 while he was on his way home to Barangay Osias from his FM radio station in the Kabacan town proper.

Martinez survived the attack, but has since been incapacitated due to the multiple gunshot wounds he had sustained.

Martinez believed that the attempt on his life had something to do with his crusade against drug pushers in his barangay.

The radioman earlier tagged a certain Araneta, a notorious drug lord, as the one who hired Obregon and Quiñones to kill him.

The two suspects were arrested on the strength of a warrant issued by Judge Francis Palmones of Branch 12 of the Central Mindanao Regional Trial Court, which has jurisdiction over Kabacan and adjoining towns. A P200,000 bail each was recommended for their temporary liberty.

Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, spokesman of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said Obregon, who belongs to the Army’s 75th Infantry Battalion, is facing charges of frustrated murder and grave misconduct before the Ombudsman for the Military.

Ortega said Obregon and Quiñones were arrested after six weeks of surveillance by his men in Barangay Osias. “They went into hiding after the incident, but were seen lately visiting friends and relatives in their barangay,” he said.   – With Artemio Dumlao