Exec is witness vs colleague in Cavite vice mayor’s slay

ABANDONED A pickup truck used by gunmen who killed Trece Martires City Vice Mayor Alexander Lubigan is abandoned in Maragondon town, Cavite province. —PHOTO COURTESY OF CAVITE PNP

Police on Monday presented an incumbent councilor of Maragondon town in Cavite province and two others as prosecution witnesses in the killing of Trece Martires City Vice Mayor Alexander Lubigan in July.

Joel Angue, a Maragondon councilor, testified against a fellow Maragondon councilor, Lawrence Arca.

Arca was implicated in the case for the alleged attempt to cover up and dispose of the gunmen’s getaway vehicle, which the police found on a bridge in Maragondon four days after the crime.

Arca and Trece Martires City Mayor Melandres de Sagun were charged with two counts of murder and one count of frustrated murder over the killing of Lubigan and his aide, Romulo Guillemer, on July 7.

Getaway vehicle

Police had also filed charges against alleged gunmen Luis Vasquez Abad Jr., Ariel Paiton and Rhonel Bersamina.

Paiton, according to police reports, allegedly contacted and paid Arca P25,000 to dispose of the vehicle, a Toyota Hilux, in what authorities concluded as a “politically motivated” killing.

In their affidavits submitted on Monday in the Department of Justice, Angue, along with witnesses Henry Ellaga and Henry Sulay Dino, said they, at one point, helped hide the getaway vehicle from authorities.

“Their participation was like allowing the vehicle parked in one’s garage for some time and then transferring it to another,” said Lubigan’s widow, Gemma, in a telephone interview.

“But they said they didn’t know who owned it or where it was used for and learned only about [the crime] later from TV [reports]. They didn’t have any knowledge in the killing,” she added.

No link

The three were presented as police witnesses.

Nowhere in their affidavits showed that De Sagun, whose camp had denied ordering the killing, was mentioned.

“They [also] did not mention [in their affidavits] that they were paid,” Gemma said.

In a separate telephone interview, Senior Supt. William Segun, Cavite police director, described Ellaga and Dino as Angue’s “bata” (henchmen).

De Sagun’s camp is expected to submit its comment and evidence until the next hearing on Nov. 26. —Maricar Cinco