Suspect claims 2 gunmen in Bersamin slay

One of the two arrested suspects in the gunslaying of Abra Rep. Luis Bersamin in Quezon City last Dec. 16 revealed that there was a second gunman in the ambush-slay of the politician and his police bodyguard.

Sunny Taculao, 41, claimed it was not only Gerry Turqueza who acted as the triggerman but also a certain Ka Jun, a former New People’s Army rebel based in Abra.

Taculao said his cousin, former La Paz vice mayor Freddie Dupo, was aware of the role of Ka Jun and an unidentified driver in the killing of Bersamin and his police bodyguard, SPO1 Adolfo Ortega, in front the Mt. Carmel Church in Quezon City.

Superintendent Jess Cambay, Cordillera police intelligence chief, said Taculao made his revelation in the course of the tactical interrogation conducted by Task Force Bersamin.

He said Ka Jun, along with Turqueza, was also recruited by a former mayor and a brother of a former congressional bet for the “hit” job against Bersamin.

Taculao and Dupo could not say, however, how much was paid Turqueza and Ka Jun for the killing.

Taculao said the unidentified suspect was the driver of the Nissan Terrano, which brought the second group of killers in and out of the church’s vicinity.

“Ka Jun and the unidentified driver have a key role in the killing of Bersamin. We are now in the process of identifying and arresting them,” Cambay told The STAR.

After the killing, Dupo and Taculao went into hiding in the mountains of Baras, Rizal, while Ka Jun and the unidentified driver hid in a remote town of Abra.

According to Cambay, they are presently deciphering the cell phones and SIM cards recovered from Dupo and Taculao to determine whether they remained in contact while in hiding.

Taculao and Dupo were arrested one after the other the other weekend in Baras, Rizal where the Cordillera police tracked them down through a sack of rice and other foodstuff sent to them by their relatives in Sta. Cruz, Ilocos Sur.

Following the arrest of Dupo and Taculao and the findings of the crime laboratory that the caliber .45 pistol seized from them was the murder weapon, PNP chief Director General Avelino Razon Jr. expressed confidence that the next to fall soon would be the mastermind in the Bersamin killing.

Dupo and Taculao are presently under the custody of Criminal Investigation and Detection Group chief Director Edgardo Doromal, who heads Task Force Bersamin.

Chief Superintendent Eugene Martin, Cordillera police director, has dispatched tracker teams to hunt down Turqueza, Ka Jun, the former mayor, the brother of a former congressional bet and the unidentified driver linked by Taculao and Dupo to Bersamin’s slay.

“We have hired the services of our field assets in getting pictures of the suspects to guide us in our manhunt operations against them,” said Martin, adding that they were not familiar with the persons implicated by Taculao and Dupo.

Martin said he has received information that Turqueza is being coddled by the former mayor and the brother of a former congressional bet in a remote Abra town.

Police have no information yet on Ka Jun and the unidentified driver. “All I know is this Ka Jun is a rebel returnee,” Martin said.

Martin said Taculao’s revelation of a second gunman confirmed the theory of Superintendent Frank Mabanag of the Quezon City Police District that there were two gunmen in the Bersamin killing.