Cops arrest suspected gun-for-hire tagged in Batangas councilor slay

CAMP VICENTE LIM, Laguna, Philippines—The suspected gunman in the 2009 murder of a municipal councilor in Sto. Tomas, Batangas, was arrested by authorities in San Pablo City, Laguna, early Wednesday.

Ceferino Atienza, 55, was arrested in a joint operation of the Batangas Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and the Batangas and Laguna provincial police at around 3:45 a.m. in the remote village of Santisimo Rosario in San Pablo City, Laguna.

Inspector Jay Agcaoili, Batangas CIDG chief, said Atienza would have been able to draw his .45-caliber gun, if only authorities had not “subdued” him, as police served the arrest warrant at his residence. Atienza’s wife was present during the arrest.

The warrant for the crime of murder was issued by Judge Arcadio Manigbas of the Regional Trial Court Branch 6 in Tanauan City, Batangas, in June 2009.

Atienza was a village councilor of Barangay Santisimo Rosario when Adolfo “Ompo” Malipol, a councilor in Sto. Tomas, Batangas, was murdered on Jan. 24, 2009.

In 2009, it was reported that Malipol was shot dead following a traffic altercation with at least five officials from Barangay Santisimo Rosario, along the national highway in Barangay San Feliz in Sto. Tomas.

According to reports, Malipol succumbed to wounds caused by three gunshots fired by the group of the village officials, who were reportedly drunk from a village fiesta. The village officials fled on a multicab but their vehicle rammed a private jeepney in the nearby town of Alaminos, Laguna.

Barangay watchmen Arcadio Mendoza and Teodoro Ramos were identified to have died in the accident, while barangay councilors Jimmy Corales and Rodante Mendoza, and a certain Antonio Mendoza were wounded.

The survivors, according to the 2009 reports, claimed that they were “too drunk” at that time to see who among them had fired the shots at Malipol.

The 2009 reports did not mention Atienza, but witnesses later identified him as having been present at the scene.

“Throughout the investigation, it turned out that Atienza was among those men and was actually the one who shot Malipol,” said Agcaoili.

He also said Atienza had planned the attack and it had nothing to do with the traffic altercation.

Atienza had continued serving as village councilor but he went into hiding after the warrant was issued. Agcaoili said several operations to arrest Atienza had failed.  It took them a month of surveillance before they were finally able to arrest the suspect, said Agcaoili.

“In their village, people treated him like ‘Robin Hood.’ His being a gun man was an open secret but villagers seemed to have protected him (because of his position),” Agacaoili said.

Atienza, who used the alias Dimas, also turned out to be the leader of a gun-for-hire group operating in Batangas and Laguna, according to the police investigation.

His group was tagged in two other murder cases in San Pablo City in 2005 and 2007.

“As we go along (the investigation) we are expecting more (murder) cases their group was responsible for to surface,” Agcaoili said.