ILOILO CITY, Philippines—The family and colleagues of slain Iloilo fair trade center head Romeo Capalla have lamented what they perceive to be the lack of progress in the resolution of his murder.
In a statement issued on June 25 to mark the 100th day after Capalla was murdered on March 15, his widow, Maria Corazon Gemarino, said their family was still struggling with the loss of her husband and finding justice.
“One hundred days since his death, my family and I are still struggling with this big void. We miss him dearly,” she said.
But Gemarino said they were saddened by the efforts to find and arrest her husband’s killers. “There’s little or no effort in bringing the perpetrators to justice,” she said.
Capalla was shot in front of the public market of Oton town in Iloilo province as he was assisting his 91-year-old mother-in-law in boarding his sport utility vehicle.
He died of two bullet wounds to the head.
Capalla, 65, was the chair of the board of directors of Panay Fair Trade Center (PFTC) and its general manager for more than 12 years. He was also the younger brother of Davao Archbishop Emeritus Fernando Capalla. An hour after he was gunned down, unidentified persons also burned a truck and other equipment of a muscovado sugar mill operated by a partner of PFTC in Janiuay town in Iloilo.
Police on March 28 filed a murder complaint against Julie Cabino and four other unidentified persons but no arrests have been made. Investigators have also not determined the motive behind the killing.
Chief Insp. Joseph Euje Almaquer, spokesperson of the Iloilo Provincial Police Office, said they were waiting for the resolution of the complaint.
“The case has already been filed. We will act depending on the outcome of our complaint whether or not an arrest warrant will be issued by a court,” he told the Inquirer.