Ex-soldier wanted for priest’s slay arrested
DIGOS CITY—The main suspect in the murder of a priest in Northern Samar in 2009 was arrested after he applied to become the bodyguard of a town mayor in Davao del Sur recently.
Jerry Espera, a former soldier from Mondragon, Northern Samar, has been in hiding since the murder.
He surfaced in Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur, and applied as bodyguard of the town mayor, Joel Ray Lopez.
Lopez said it had been his practice to thoroughly verify the background of individuals applying to be his bodyguards or those seeking employment at the town government.
Lopez said about two weeks ago, he received a call from a man, who identified himself as a member of the Lopez clan, while he was on an official trip to Manila.
“He wanted to be my bodyguard and told me about his background as a soldier,” the mayor said.
Lopez said he had second thoughts about accommodating the call because he did not know the man in the first place.
He said he also wondered how the former soldier got his number.
Lopez said he told the man to wait for his return so they could personally meet.
When he returned from his Manila trip, the man showed up at his office.
In his application, the man wrote his name as Jerry Domasig Espera of Mondragon, Northern Samar.
Lopez said he told Espera he would be contacted later.
When the man left, Lopez said he had the man’s picture scanned and e-mailed to the Northern Samar police office.
When the feedback came, it turned out that Espera is one of the suspects in the murder of Fr. Cecilio Lucero. The mayor also learned that Espera was also wanted for kidnapping and rape. Mayor Lopez had Espera arrested on Feb. 12.
Espera has since been returned to Northern Samar, according to Sta. Cruz town police chief Senior Insp. Alfredo Santillana.
The slain priest was the younger brother of former Northern Samar Rep. Wilmar Lucero.
Father Lucero was driving his car past 8 a.m. of Sept. 6, 2009, when ambushed by at least 30 masked men in Barangay Layuhan in San Jose, Northern Samar. Orlando Dinoy, Inquirer Mindanao
