Soldier eyed in Masbate mining town massacre

LEGAZPI CITY—Police said they have witnesses who had positively identified one of the gunmen who killed three people in Masbate’s mining town of Aroroy on Easter Sunday.

SPO1 Zandro Cabintoy, spokesperson of the Masbate provincial police office, said the witnesses pointed to ex-soldier Randy Ogad as one of the gunmen in the Easter Sunday killing.

Ogad was identified from a photo gallery of the most wanted persons in Bicol that was shown to the witnesses by the Aroroy municipal police office.

Cabintoy, in an e-mail statement, said the witnesses tagged Ogad as one of the nine gunmen, who posed as policemen and were wearing Philippine National Police (PNP) uniforms when they killed gold mill owner Jesus Amaro, his son Gilbert and driver Ricky Almodiel inside the family compound in Barangay Luy-a, Aroroy, on April 5.

Supt. Jesus Centino Martirez, officer in charge of the Masbate police, said Ogad is in the PNP regional office’s list of most wanted persons in the region. A reward of P90,000 had been placed on Ogad’s head.

Martirez said Ogad’s last known addresses were in Barangay Urban Poor and Purok 3 Mancruz, both in Daet, Camarines Norte.

Police records showed Ogad has a pending murder case at the Regional Trial Court Branch 53 in Sorsogon City for the killing of peasant leader Willy Jeruz of the Samahang Magsasaka ng Sorsogon, an affiliate of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, in April 2007.

“There is a standing warrant of arrest for him for the case (filed in 2008), with no bail recommended,” said Martirez.

He added Ogad was an enlisted personnel of the Philippine Army before he disappeared after the killing of Jeruz.

Martirez said charges of robbery with homicide have been filed against the nine gunmen in the Amaro-Almodiel case at the Masbate provincial prosecutors office. The gunmen took an undetermined quantity of silver, a shoulder bag with an unknown amount of gold and assorted jewelry from the Amaro home.