Village chief charged for mayor’s slay

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan – Task Force Cabantac created by the police provincial office to probe and solve the gunslaying of Agno Mayor Arthur Cabantac, filed murder charges Friday at the Prosecutor’s Office in Burgos town against a barangay captain, a chief tanod and the alleged gunman plus five John Does.

Senior Superintendent Isagani Nerez, police provincial director, told The STAR that after careful study, the task force filed murder charges against the suspects based on testimonies of four witnesses who identified the suspects.

The charges was filed against Jorge Saulo, alleged gunman, Barangay Captain Rodrigo Miranda, chief tanod Gener Sibinario, both of Barangay Sto. Tomas, Aliaga, Nueva Ecija and five John Does.

Cabantac was gunned down around 9:20 p.m. of Aug. 2 while he was playing mahjong with some friends at a neighbor’s house at the corner of Zamora and Gomez Streets, Poblacion East, Agno. The suspects used an M16 Armalite rifle as evidenced by four empty shells and one slug recovered at the crime scene by responding police team.

After several days, a resident of Barangay Sto. Tomas, Aliaga, Nueva Ecija voluntarily appeared before the Office of Pangasinan Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and revealed the alleged perpetrators and provided the description of the three suspects of the six members of the group.

The suspects were allegedly paid P2 million to kill Cabantac.

Three other witnesses from Agno positively identified the perpetrators.

Nerez said the five John Does include politicians, businessmen and a policeman but the police are still gathering subsequent evidence to strengthen the case against them. “We consider this case partially solved,” he said.

Neres was confident they will eventually unmask the masterminds. “As of now, we are going there,” he said.

He said the strongest motives they are looking into the mayor’s slay are political and business intertwined.

Nerez said that they talked to the family members of the mayor before they filed the case and they were thankful because the case is moving.