9 bodyguards of Cagayan vice gov hunted for killing

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya , Philippines   â€“ Nine bodyguards of Cagayan Vice Gov. Leonides Fausto are being hunted down by authorities for their alleged involvement in the killing of a supporter of a rival camp during the campaign period.

The suspects were identified as Zaldy Bangan, Gil Durian, Boyet Genobil, Arthur Advincula, Angel Tubban, Romar Latupan, Nono Lizardo, Jefrey Balocanao and Aldrin Omillo, who reportedly worked as Fausto’s security aides during the recent elections.

They were tagged in the killing of Jomar Littaua, 41, of Tuao town’s Barangay Centro 1, during the campaign period. The victim was one of the campaign supporters of three-term Tuao Mayor William Mamba in his failed gubernatorial bid in Cagayan.

Mamba, who is allied with the Liberal Party (LP), lost to re-electionist Gov. Alvaro Antonio, the running mate of Fausto under the United Nationalist Alliance.

Reports said the suspects chanced upon Littaua in an eatery in Tuao town where they allegedly shot him repeatedly after a verbal tussle. The suspects and the victim reportedly had differences, which cropped up during the campaign.     

Two more suspects, a certain Audi Cauilan and Julius Cesar Paeste, were arrested at the crime scene while the others were able to escape.

Mamba’s brother, Manuel, head of the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office, recently filed charges of multiple frustrated murder against Antonio in connection with the shooting of his convoy in Alcala town on election day.

Besides Antonio, several John Does were also included in Manuel Mamba’s complaint filed before the Cagayan prosecutor’s office last May 21. 

Mamba, also a former three-term congressman, accused Antonio as the one who fired at his four-vehicle convoy while passing through the governor’s hometown of Alcala at around 2 p.m. last May 13. 

Mamba, LP chairman in Cagayan, said his group was on their way to Aparri town to monitor the balloting when the incident happened. 

Antonio denied the allegations, claiming that he was resting at his residence then when he heard gunshots. The Mambas’ linking him to the shooting, he said, was a mere excuse for their defeat in the elections.  

Former congressman Mamba and then second term-seeking Gov. Antonio faced off in the 2010 gubernatorial race.