Suspect in Charice dad’s slay yields

Angel Capili Jr., the suspect in the murder of Charice Pempengco's father, is being escorted by police in Camp Crame. KAREN BONCOCAN/INQUIRER.net

SAN PEDRO, Laguna—The suspect in the murder of Ricky Pempengco, the father of pop singer Charice, surrendered to local authorities in Cavite Thursday.

Angel Capili, 35, gave himself up to village officials in Santiago village, General Trias, Cavite. He was brought before General Trias Mayor Luis Ferrer at around 2:30 p.m., and later transferred to the Camp Crame police headquarters in Quezon City.

“His family convinced him to surrender,” Ferrer said in a phone interview.

“He said he didn’t know Ricky was Charice’s father,” said Ferrer, adding that General Trias officials only found out that Capili was from the town from news reports.

Pempengco, 43, was murdered before midnight last Monday after getting into a drunken street fight with the suspect in San Pedro, Laguna. Capili was visiting friends in the town, where he used to reside, during the feast of the dead.

According to the statement that Capili made to Ferrer, the suspect claimed that Pempengco was the first to throw a punch at him.

“He said he only reacted to that and everything happened so fast,” Ferrer said.

At Camp Crame, Capili was presented to media by Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo.

“He admits the killing and has asked forgiveness from the family (of Pempengco). He said he is willing to face the charges,” Robredo said.

Charice, who refused to face the media, stayed inside an office at the police headquarters with her mother, Raquel, and brother Carl.

The singer, who canceled a concert tour in Singapore on November 2 and 3 to be with her family, could be seen sobbing as police officials and Laguna and Cavite local executives held a meeting.

“The family was thankful to the authorities for the arrest (of Capili),” said San Pedro Mayor Calixto Cataquiz. He said Capili will be turned over to the San Pedro police.

Also at Camp Crame Thursday, Laguna Governor Jeorge Ejercito and Cataquiz presented the P200,000 reward money to Rolando Pagkaliwangan, the Santiago village chief, for having found the suspect.

Police teams had fanned out to Cavite and Quezon provinces and the Bicol region to hunt down Capili but he gave himself up before they could find him.

Charice’s manager Grace Mendoza said Charice would give a statement at some point regarding the arrest.

Charice, who said she had a “great short relationship with her father” having been only 3 when her parents separated, earlier appealed to authorities to find her father’s killer. With Karen Boncocan, INQUIRER.net

Originally posted at 03:00 pm | Thursday, November 03, 2011