Wife of Camarines Norte gov, companion missing

CAMARINES Norte Gov. Edgardo Tallado and his wife Josie in this photo taken in 2013 JUAN ESCANDOR JR./INQUIRER SOUTHERN LUZON

NAGA CITY—Whatever happened to the wife of Camarines Norte Gov. Edgardo Tallado and her female companion?

“I am praying that nothing bad happened to them,” Tallado said in a press conference here on Monday.

On Sunday, Tallado said his wife Josie, 43, and a female staff member, Darlene Francisco, had failed to return to their home in Labo town, Camarines Norte province, since they left at 2 p.m. on Friday in a black Toyota Fortuner. Police found the sport utility vehicle abandoned on Saturday in the adjoining province of Camarines Sur.

Tallado said Josie informed him that she would drive Francisco, a student of Ateneo de Naga University, to her house in Barangay (village) 3 in Vinzons, a neighboring town of Labo. They had just arrived from Cagayan de Oro City after attending to an affair of Junior Chamber International, he said.

His wife drove the vehicle because the driver was not around but a security aide, PO1 Michael Lubiano, accompanied them, he said.

Lubiano said that after unloading Francisco’s bags and belongings in her house, he was told to wait there while they had snacks. Josie gave the police officer P500 to buy food and told him to wait until 7 p.m., he said.

Lubiano, however, said the two failed to come back and that their phones could not be contacted.

The Fortuner was found around 9 a.m. on Saturday in Sitio Trespassing, Barangay Napolidan in Lupi town, Camarines Sur, about 30 minutes by car from Vinzons, by a group led by Oscar Señar, chair of neighboring Barangay Sooc.

The nearest point to Lupi from Labo is 40 kilometers away, passing through the old road in Camarines Norte going to Manila and Sta. Elena town to reach the Quirino Highway.

Señar, in an interview, said a certain Sonny Boy Cepeda reported the abandoned vehicle along the highway. When the vehicle was opened, Lupi police and barangay officials had the impression that someone tried to burn it down upon seeing three spent matches and a throw pillow soaked in crude oil.

Tallado said police had been searching nonstop for his wife and Francisco, and that he could only pray and hope that nothing bad happened to them.

He said Interior Secretary Mar Roxas had called him up to inform him that police had been mobilized to help solve the case.

Senior Supt. Moises Pagaduan, provincial police chief, said Task Force Josie had been formed to focus on the investigation and search. He said probers did not yet have any lead.

In the press conference, Tallado appealed for respect amid the adversity his family was undergoing. If the disappearance is related to his work as a governor, he asked those behind it to spare his loved ones and get back at him instead.