Widow of American diver offers reward in hunt for killer
BLACQUIO
MANILA, Philippines – The widow of slain American diver and Coast Guard volunteer Matthew Caldwell is offering a cash reward for anyone who can help the police capture the alleged killer, a security guard who fled after the August 2013 incident in Las Piñas City.
In an interview Friday, Jenny Flora said she would give P100,000 for information leading to the arrest of Ericson Mendoza Blacquio.
Caldwell was killed on the night of Aug. 15 in an altercation with Blacquio at the gates of Hamilton Heights subdivision, Barangay Talon V, Las Piñas City.
The couple were coming home to Hamilton from a get-together with Caldwell’s peers from the Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary Unit when Blacquio, the guard on duty, refused to lift the wooden barrier at the gate. In the ensuing dispute, Blacquio shot Caldwell in the face with his service firearm and fled on a motorcycle.
Investigators later learned that Blacquio, in refusing to lift the barrier, was acting on an order from the homeowners’ association stating that residents who had refused to pay the P500 monthly association fee were to be denied certain services and should lift the barrier themselves.
The city police later found that Blacquio had no license as a security guard and that his agency, South Star Security, owned by Jordan Mijares, presented fake papers to the association and was not registered with the Philippine National Police–Supervisory Office for Security and Investigation Agencies.
A murder complaint was filed against Blacquio and fellow guard Alfredo Bacornay.
Flora said that on Dec. 9, Las Piñas Judge Ismael Duldulao issued a warrant of arrest against Blacquio, which listed his address to be in Barangay San Dionisio, Parañaque City.
But according to Las Piñas police chief Senior Supt. Adolfo Samala, Blaquio was just renting a place in San Dionisio back then. “It’s difficult to say where else he could have gone. We have no records, no biodata, because his security agency was also fake.”
Flora had since moved out of Hamilton. In November, she also resigned from her job as a respiratory therapist to focus on her husband’s murder case and also because “I’m now too scared to go home at night.”
“It’s like Matt was just forgotten, after everything he had done,” she said.
The Coast Guard paid tribute to Caldwell, who had lived in the Philippines for 20 years, for lending his diving expertise to PCG’s search and rescue missions, including the retrieval operations for the body of Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo who died in a plane crash in August 2012. The Robredo mission earned Caldwell an award from President Aquino, the PCG noted.
Flora said those with information on Blacquio’s whereabouts could contact her at 09153831549. The Las Piñas police said they could also call (02) 874-9201 or 09474622859.
