Former mayor pleads for return of wife’s remains

HE may have lost her forever, but former mayor Chary Mangacop of Placer town, Surigao del Norte still wants to bring home his estranged wife’s remains, along with their children and three luxury cars.

In a press conference, Mangacop appealed to Mayor Hermigildo Betonio III of Pio V. Corpus town, Masbate province to turn over remains of his estranged wife Crisanta Lauro, as well as his four children with her and three luxury cars.

“I am appealing to the good mayor, requesting to turn over them all over to me. I’m not angry at them. My wife is gone, I cannot do anything about it now,” a teary-eyed Mangacop said.

Lauro, who became Betonio’s live-in partner was killed while the mayor’s sister Leny Betonio-Eser was shot by the backrider of a motorcycle riding tandem while inside a taxi in Pier 3, Cebu City last Monday.

Business interests

Aside from politics and a love triangle, business interests are also being looked into by the Cebu City police as another possible motive in Lauro’s murder.

Senior Supt. Mariano Natu-el, Cebu City police chief, said Mangacop provided them information that can help solve the case.

Natu-el said Lauro could have incurred large debts that led to her murder.

He said everything is still subject for verification and that Mangacop can be called again to shed light.

“I cannot say that Mangacop was cleared but he did provide information to us,” Natu-el said.

Natu-el said police have the name of a possible gunman and are tracking him down.

He said Mangacop presented a marriage certificate to show that he was the legal husband, birth certificates and photos of their four children, among others.

Mangacop said he went to Cebu to cooperate in the investigation.

He arrived early yesterday and went directly to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG 7) office headed by its chief Senior Supt. Eduardo Benigay.

“I want justice for my wife,” Mangacop said.

He said Lauro’s sister, Sally Allocod, is now in Masbate to retrieve the remains of his wife so he can bring them and their four children to Lauro’s hometown in Carmen, Agusan del Norte.

He recounted how his wife left him and their home in San Pablo Laguna. Mangacop said he was confined for a right knee operation in a Butuan City and he kept in touch with her by phone.

Last Dec. 12, he said he called Lauro and she agreed to fetch him at the airport in Manila.

Mangacop said he was surprised that she never showed up and he headed to San Pablo, Laguna only to discover that she, their children and three luxury cars were gone.

Mangacop said he never heard from Lauro again until he learned on TV that his wife was killed in an ambush in Cebu City last Monday.