Still no witnesses in Tetangco brother's killing

SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga, Philippines – The P400,000 reward offered by the police for any information that could solve the killing of a brother of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando Tetangco and two others has so far failed to lure any witnesses, except for a texter who apparently just wanted to further confuse the investigators.

Senior Superintendent Wendy Rosario, head of the Tetangco-Yap Task Force, told The STAR that after the police announced the P400,000 reward last week, an unidentified person sent him text messages providing details on the place where Tetangco’s brother Rene, his friend Florencio Yap and Yap’s aide Dennis Guinto were killed in Angeles City last June 2.

“We went to the place and found it as an improbable site for the murders. It could be that the texter is himself the culprit who is trying to mislead the investigators,” Rosario said without giving details on the information provided by the anonymous texter.

The texter, he said, always turned off his cell phone after sending the messages.

So far, Rosario said his task force has gathered testimonies from 18 people, but none of them were direct witnesses.

“Up to now, we don’t even know exactly where the victims were shot dead,” he said.

Tetangco expressed hope that the case would be solved soon, saying he was still waiting for the results of the investigation. He was here yesterday for the inauguration of the BSP regional office.

The victims’ bodies were found in Yap’s van on an empty lot in Barangay Pampang, Angeles City, but the investigators were certain they were slain elsewhere.

Rosario though expressed hope that the P400,000 reward “would entice walk-in witnesses who can provide us finally with information that can identify the suspect or suspects.”

He said police have made public four telephone numbers (including 0927-2208432 and 0908-5011278) for any vital information on the killing, but no one has so far responded.                    

– Ding Cervantes, Ric Sapnu