Lawyer Raul Sesbreño asked for police security while his youngest son Peter showed up in a bulletproof vest in the wake of Wednesday’s road ambush in Talisay City where the lawyer’s wife and two companions were killed.
Father and son said they knew who the “masterminds” are and names of specific suspects. They said the violence definitely stemmed from a demolition that took place in a disputed lot in barangay Lawaan II, Talisay, hours before the attack.
“The mastermind is the one who blocked the demolition,” Raul told ABS-CBN television. He held back divulging names, saying he needed to file a complaint first.
Son Peter, in separate interview, said there were “five masterminds.”
Raul said he had long been warned by hostile residents that a P100,000 bounty was on his head to prevent the demolition of houses on a family-claimed lot in barangay Lawaan II, which took place that morning.
“Duna nay patong imong ulo ug P100,000” (Your life is worth P100,000),” he quoted them as saying.
Two policemen were seen posted yesterday at the lobby of the Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes in Nivel Hills where the vigil wake was held for his wife Virginia, 64.
The lawyer said he was the real target of the attack, and that others in the vehicle, which he didn’t ride, were “innocent victims.”
Virginia, their 50-year-old neighbor Soledad Epanto and the driver, a family friend, Marlon Joshua Young, were in the Isuzu pickup when two men on a red motorbike opened fire as the vehicle stopped for a red light in a junction of Rabaya Street and the South Coastal Road in barangay Cansojong, Talisay City, about 3:25 p.m.
Sesbreño said he didn’t go to the police yet with information about suspects so as not to interfere with their inquiry, but he said he would cooperate if he’s called.
Talisay police chief Eddie Recamara, in a separate interview, said the lawyer had “many enemies,” not just over the land dispute, but from numerous cases Sesbreño had filed over the years against law enforcers, prosecutors, fellow lawyers and even judges.
But the demolition and land ownership dispute “is the nearest angle we are looking into.”
He said five witnesses promised to cooperate with the inquiry. Police released a cartographic sketch of the gunman, whose face was bare during the ambush. However, the motorcycle driver wore shades and covered his face with a cloth mask.
SP01 Mickie Espina, investigator, said police were aware of the land dispute in Lawaan. A demolition was supposed to be made last year but was held off because of strong opposition from occupants, he said.
Sesbreño was working to clear the land, originally owned by the Borromeo family, which he said he acquired as payment for his legal services.
Sesbreño, meanwhile, said he had some reservations about Recamara, against whom he had once filed a case for misconduct with the Internal Affairs Divisions in Camp Crame.
The lawyer said the demolition of houses in Lawaan II scheduled for 9 a.m. was delayed by over an hour because no Talisay policemen were there and the court sheriff was afraid to start on his own.
“The police were afraid to accompany the sheriff and the demolition crew,” he lamented even though there was an order for the activity from Provincial Director Patrocinio Comendador Jr.
His son Peter, who flew in from Manila, said the family is convinced that the attack was related to the land dispute.
He said they have names of “five masterminds,” but would not divulge their names at this time.
“We are not afraid,” he said in Cebuano, and said the court-ordered demolition of illegal structures in barangay Lawaan would continue next week.
Peter was wearing a bulletproof vest when he arrived at the funeral parlor.
“The police have already secured a cartographic sketch of the suspects. They will compare it with guns-for-hire (in their photo files),” Peter told Cebu Daily News.
Peter confirmed that his parents had received death threats over the land dispute in Lawaan II, Talisay, but he did not give other details.
He said the last time he spoke with his mother over the phone was Wednesday. She assured him that “everything will be okay” despite the death threats.
Peter said he was shocked to learn of the ambush and flew immediately to Cebu from Manila, where he lives with four siblings.
Peter said that 31-year-old Young, who was driving the Isuzu pickup, was a “close family friend.”
“Luoy kaayo, nadamay,” he said. With reports of Rhea Ruth Rosell, Jhunnex Napallacar and Chito Aragon