PILI, CAMARINES SUR — Almost a month after gunmen shot dead Ako Bicol Rep. Rodel Batocabe in Daraga, Albay province, police recovered from a septic tank in this town on Thursday parts of the .45-caliber pistol allegedly used in the assassination.
The police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) recovered the pistol’s slide, barrel, two magazines and 20 bullets from the septic tank in the backyard of Emmanuel Rosello in Barangay Sto. Niño.
Rosello, a former militiaman, is one of the six suspects in the killing of Batocabe and his police escort, SPO2 Orlando Diaz, during a Christmas event in Daraga on Dec. 22.
Senior Supt. Arnold Ardiente, chief of CIDG Bicol, said the gun would be part of the physical evidence in the case.
Backup gunman’s driver
“If [the bullets] match the recovered slugs and [casings] at the crime scene, then this [only means] that this was the gun used in the shooting,” Ardiente said.
Rosello, who is under police custody, allegedly drove the motorcycle used by Rolando Arimado, the backup gunman, police said.
All the other suspects in Batocabe’s killing—Arimado, Christopher Naval, Henry Yuson, Jaywin Babor and Danilo Muella—are already in police custody. — STEPHANIE FLORIDA