Murder raps filed in Zamboanga del Sur mayor slay

CRIME SCENE A police officer documents the site of the shooting at Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3, which resulted in the deaths of Mayor Ukol Talumpa and his wife (inset from Facebook), and two others. GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

MANILA, Philippines – Exactly a week after Mayor Ocol Talumpa of Labangan, Zamboanga del Sur, and three other persons were killed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay City, the police has filed charges of murder and frustrated murder against the alleged gunman and companions.

Marrox Genem Amlong and two John Does now face four counts of murder and five counts of frustrated murder in the Pasay Prosecutor’s Office.

The formal complaints were received on Friday by Pasay Assistant Prosecutor Orlando Mariano at the NAIA Terminal 3 where the victims were gunned down.

On December 20, Talumpa’s group of 12 had just arrived in Metro Manila for a vacation when they were shot on the driveway of Terminal 3 by one of two men on a motorcycle.

The mayor, his wife Lea and nephew Salipudin died from multiple gunshot wounds. Phil Thomas Lizaran, a one-year-old boy whose family was standing nearby, also died when the gunman sprayed the victims with bullets. Five others were wounded —two from the Talumpa family and three from the Lirazan family.

Some of the mayor’s staff, who were with him when he was ambushed, later identified Amlong as the gunman, according to Pasay police investigation section head Chief Inspector Joey Goforth.

Amlong was a security aide of Talumpa’s political rival, former Labangan Mayor Wilson “Kitty” Nandang, said Talumpa’s eldest daughter, Rayam, in a press briefing at the Southern Police District headquarters in Fort Bonifacio after the case was filed.

Three members of the mayor’s staff testified that before shooting Talumpa, Amlong shouted: “Mayor, Mayor! Para kay Kitty Nandang ito! (This is for Kitty Nandang),” Goforth said.

Task force head Senior Supterintendent Billy Beltran said they had 10 witnesses to testify at the trial.

Rayam, who was with her lawyer during the press conference, also made other statements that implicated Nandang.

“In May 2013, [my father] won as mayor, defeating Wilson “Kitty” Nandang. This crime is really because of politics and [my father’s] campaign against illegal drugs,” she said.

“Nandang filed an election protest against my father. But when they saw that my father hadn’t cheated, they abandoned the case. Maybe this is their way to reinstate themselves in our area,” she added.

According to her, Nandang had been implicated in previous attempts on her father’s life since the latter was elected Labangan vice mayor in 2010 on a campaign promise to wage war on illegal drugs.

National Capital Region Police Office chief Director Carmelo Valmoria clarified that while the family had their own opinions about the case, “we are still investigating if there are other people involved. We don’t want to speculate. It won’t hold water in court. Based on our… evidence and witnesses, the only identified suspect is the gunman.”

Goforth also clarified that the testimonies of the witnesses were “not enough evidence” to conclude that Nandang was involved in the crime. “Of course, we’re not discounting that he’s the mastermind but we believe we should get more testimonial and physical evidence,” he said.

Meanwhile, Rayam also expressed resentment toward  the management of NAIA. “We see complacency. Mama and Papa always went on vacation [in Metro Manila]. Papa always had his escorts but this is the first time it took them a long time to retrieve their firearms,” she said.

Goforth said that before he was shot, Talumpa had asked his four security escorts to retrieve their firearms from the police depository booth after the group retrieved their luggage at 11:15 a.m.

Rayam said her father had gone out to the loading bay to see what was holding up his escorts. “From what I’ve been told, there was no one to release the guns. Only a security guard was there. They had to wait because only the police can release firearms,” she added.

Beltran said they were looking for Amlong and his two companions not only in Metro Manila but also in the provinces.

A “wanted” poster of Amlong has been prepared with informants asked to call 0921-7623100 or 8318070.

Related Stories:

Political foe eyed in mayor’s airport slay

Zamboanga mayor, 3 others shot dead at NAIA 3