CRIME SCENE: A policeman secures a section of the quarry site in Pagatpat village, Cagayan de Oro City, where Barangay Carmen Councilor Roland Sherwin Uy and his aide were shot dead on Nov. 11. (Photo by JIGGER J. JERUSALEM / Inquirer Mindanao)
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Misamis Oriental, Philippines — A cash reward of P4 million has been put up for people who can provide information leading to the arrest and prosecution of suspects in the murder of a son of Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rolando Uy last week.
On Tuesday, Vice Mayor Joaquin Uy told reporters that their family had offered a P2-million cash reward as he called on those who have knowledge of the crime and to help them seek justice for the killing of his older brother, Barangay Carmen Councilor Roland Sherwin Uy, known here as Tawe, and the latter’s aide.
Earlier, Mayor Oscar Moreno offered P2 million from local government funds for those who can “give information that would lead to the identification, arrest, and prosecution of those responsible for the killings.”
“The perpetrators, together with the brains, must be held to account for these dastardly acts,” Moreno said in a statement.
Roland Sherwin, 45, and his aide, Samuel Pabalan, 73, were shot and killed by unidentified gunmen in the former’s quarry site in Barangay Pagatpat on Nov. 11.
Possible motives
According to Police Lt. Col. Surki Sereñas, deputy city police chief for administration, investigators were in the process of “piecing together information [and] circumstances” of the crime.
Sereñas said they were looking into the angles of dispute relating to Roland Sherwin’s quarrying business, personal grudge and possible extortion demand from people who identified themselves as communist rebels.
Sereñas said further evidence collected from the crime scene showed that there were two types of firearms used in the attack, indicating that there were two gunmen involved.
Some accounts gathered by the police also indicated that Roland Sherwin was trailed by the suspects on a motorcycle as he went to the quarry site from the city center after having lunch.
Maj. Jerson Estanilla, Bulua police station chief, earlier said Roland Sherwin’s driver, Rubie Alayuay, never recalled an instance of his employer talking about any threat to his life.
Roland Sherwin was unarmed and had no security aide when he was gunned down.
Alayuay said he did not see the suspects as he was inside a toilet when the village official was attacked. Out of fear, he said he hid and came out only after hearing the sound of a motorcycle leaving the area.