P'sinan gov ups reward in slay case to P.8 M

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan ,Philippines  – Gov. Amado Espino Jr. yesterday offered a cash reward of P500,000 for any information leading to the arrest of the killers of former Lingayen vice mayor Ramon Arcinue and his wife, Zorahayda, incumbent chairperson of Barangay Poblacion here.

Espino’s offer raised the reward to P800,000, including the P300,000 put up earlier by Lingayen officials led by Mayor Ernesto Castaneda Jr.

Espino also offered P200,000 for the arrest of the suspects in last year’s slay attempt on the Arcinue couple in Binmaley town. For their part, the Arcinue family raised P300,000, for a total of P500,000.

The former vice mayor and his wife were shot dead in front of their rented apartment in Sampaloc, Manila last March 7.

The attack came one year after the first attempt on their lives in Binmaley on March 4, 2011.

The couple was laid to rest at the Catholic cemetery here last Wednesday.

Espino condemned the killing as a “despicable and outrageous attack on civil society.”

Earlier, Espino directed the provincial police to exert all efforts and closely coordinate with the Manila police to solve the case at the soonest possible time.