The alleged lookout in the ambush-slay of Abra Rep. Luis Bersamin Jr. in Quezon City last Dec. 16, is singing like a canary.
Chief Superintendent Eugene Martin, Cordillera police director, said the suspect, Sonny Taculao, who was arrested in Baras, Rizal last Saturday, is fully cooperating with police probers.
Martin said they are now building up the case against the mastermind in the Bersamin killing based on the testimony of Taculao, one of the three suspects charged in court.
However, Martin refused to identify the suspected mastermind pending the filing of murder charges against him in court.
Taculao went into hiding in the mountains of Baras, where his fellow Abranons were residing, since Bersamin was gunned down in front of the Mt. Carmel Church in Quezon City. The lawmaker’s police bodyguard, SPO1 Adelfo Ortega, was also slain in the attack.
“He is giving us valuable information which we are vigorously following up for us to solve the murder of Rep. Bersamin,” Martin said.
Combined elements of the Cordillera and Rizal police arrested Taculao, who yielded a caliber .45 pistol.
The arresting team was armed with an arrest warrant issued by Judge Lydia Layosa of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) for Taculao and two other suspects, former vice mayor Freddie Dupo of La Paz, Abra and former Constable Salvador Barbosa.
During tactical interrogation, Taculao said he was paid P30,000 for having acted as a lookout in the Bersamin killing.
A former convict, Taculao pointed to Dupo as the one who approached him two weeks before the “hit,” saying Dupo had direct contact with the mastermind.
Martin said Taculao revealed that he was with Dupo’s team but that another group was also in the vicinity of Mt. Carmel Church during the ambush-slay.
“His (Taculao’s) task was to monitor the vehicle of Rep. Bersamin to determine how many occupants were inside and whether they were armed with high-powered firearms,” said Martin, adding that if the lawmaker’s close-in security aides were heavily armed, the second group would finish the job.
“Their job was compartmentalized and Taculao only knew the members of Dupo’s team. He had no idea as to the identities of the members of the second unit,” he said.
Taculao admitted sending a text message to Dupo minutes before the killing that there were only three occupants in Bersamin’s vehicle and that his police escorts were armed with handguns.
Martin said Taculao identified a certain Gerry, also an Abra resident, as the triggerman.
Taculao claimed that Dupo gave him P20,000 to purchase a motorcycle which he would use in “shadowing” Bersamin in Metro Manila.
He bought a motorcycle for P17,000 and got a receipt for it under the name of Sgt. Rufino Panday, who earlier had admitted acting as a lookout but later retracted his statements.
Investigators of the Quezon City police recovered the motorcycle, leading them to Panday.
It was Dupo who brought Taculao to Baras, reportedly telling him that the mastermind in the Bersamin killing was a millionaire and could hire assassins to silence him, Martin said.
“Dupo wanted to be at the side of Taculao to prevent him from surrendering and spilling the beans,” he added.
Martin said Dupo was with Taculao in their Baras hideout during the latter’s arrest but managed to escape.
Sought for comment, former Abra governor Vicente Valera, earlier tagged as the mastermind in the Bersamin killing, said he does not know Taculao.
Valera, who lost in the Abra congressional race, has repeatedly denied any role in the killing.
Abra Gov. Eustaquio Bersamin, the slain congressman’s brother, welcomed Taculao’s arrest.
“We are thankful that the wheels of justice are moving. Hopefully, the police will get the gunman and the mastermind in the killing,” a source quoted him as saying after he met with Martin yesterday morning to get an update. – With Myds Supnad and Cecille Suerte Felipe