MANILA, Philippines — The long arm of the law finally caught up with a convicted man who was also the primary suspect in the killing of a member of the Presidential Security Group (PSG) and his aide in Tondo, Manila, almost three years ago.
The arrest of Ronnie Rivera, who was presented by the National Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday, leaves only one more suspect at large — Oliver Santos — in connection with the deaths of Police Cpl. Gabriel Gabriel and Crisanto Lozano on June 19, 2016.
Jonathan Galicia, chief of the NBI task force against illegal drugs, identified Rivera and Santos as among the five suspects who allegedly ambushed the victims outside their house shortly after a fight broke out between the two groups on Coral Street at Barangay 66.
Brief brawl
The suspects were reportedly irked by the noise the victims were making as they were eating at a roadside eatery in Moriones, leading to a brief brawl, according to Gabriel’s widow, Mildred.
She said that the suspects followed the victims home on a motorcycle and shot them, killing both men. Several people were also wounded in the incident.
At the time, Mildred recalled, she had just given birth to their second child.
Addressing Rivera, she said: “You were just irritated by the noise my husband was making but why did you have to kill him? My husband was a PSG member and yet he was killed like an animal.”
Since then, Galicia said, Rivera had been transferring from one area to another and assuming different identities.
Some of the identification cards found in his house at Harmony Homes in San Pedro, Laguna province where he was arrested on Monday bore the names Randy Reyes de Guzman and Mike dela Cruz Viola.
Also found in his possession were several guns and ammunition, including a .45-caliber Armscor pistol registered to a Bacoor resident.
Mildred added that apart from footage taken by a closed-circuit television camera near their house, authorities identified the suspects through tips given by concerned Tondo residents on a Facebook page created after Gabriel’s death.
Speaking briefly to reporters, Rivera confessed to his crimes and apologized.
Previous conviction
In 2002, he was found guilty by a Manila regional trial court of the killing of Ervick Limpin, a ruling that was upheld by the Court of Appeals in 2015.
Rivera will face murder charges before a Manila court for the deaths of Gabriel and Lozano.
He will also be charged with violating the Omnibus Election Code, illegal possession of firearms, and illegal use of aliases under Republic Act No. 6085 before a San Pedro court, Galicia said.