EVEN if the alleged gunman has already been arrested, the police are still far from identifying the mastermind in the killing of a Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) supervisor.
“We kept asking the suspect questions about the motive and the brains in the killing but he refused to answer. He hasn’t spoken a word since Friday,” Chief Inspector Bong Daskeo, field officer of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in Rizal province, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer Sunday.
Armando Cariño alias Manding was arrested in a joint operation conducted by the CIDG and Rizal police on Friday afternoon at a house in Sitio (sub-village) Sanakai at Barangay (village) De la Paz, Antipolo City, Daskeo said.
He added that Cariño tried to draw his gun but police operatives surrounding the house beat him to it. Police recovered a .45 caliber pistol and a hand grenade from him.
But Daskeo said their hopes of identifying the mastermind would not be dampened by Cariño’s silence since they were looking for his other cohorts.
“We may still capture Tony,” he added.
Cariño and Tony are accused of shooting and killing BIR district officer Marcelino Yap as he was on his way to his office in Antipolo City on February 17.
The gunmen left behind their motorcycle after the victim’s driver, Dante Torig, rammed it with Yap’s Toyota Innova.
The motorcycle was discovered to be registered in the name of Andy, Cariño’s nephew, who later helped the police identify the gunman.
Charges have been filed against Andy, Cariño and Tony with the city prosecutor’s office.
Cariño will undergo inquest proceedings for the murder charge today, Monday.
Mayor Nilo Leyble, who had put up a P100,000 reward for the arrest of Cariño, urged the police to hunt down the mastermind in the killing.
“The gunman was arrested. But the police should [also] identify the mastermind. Only by this can we bring justice to the victim and his family,” Leyble said in a statement.