Still no clear leads in QC fiscal’s killing

Fiscals hold an indignation rally outside the Quezon City Prosecutors’ Office to condemn the murder of Quezon City Assistant City Prosecutor Rogelio Velasco. EDWIN BACASMAS

As the remains of Quezon City Deputy Chief Prosecutor Rogelio Velasco were laid to rest on Sunday, an official of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) said that investigators still had no clear leads in the case that would lead them to his killers.

“We are still looking into the past and present cases that he handled as a prosecutor and we are interviewing his colleagues for any information that can help in the investigation,” Senior Insp. Elmer Monsalve, head of the homicide division of the QCPD’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit, told the Inquirer.

Gunmen still unidentified

He added that no one had approached them with any information about the identities of the two gunmen whose facial composite sketches were released to the public last week.

The 64-year-old Velasco was ambushed on May 11 by at least four men on Holy Spirit Drive in Barangay Holy Spirit, shortly after he left the Quezon City Hall compound.

He was in his car with his two daughters when the gunmen cut them off and riddled his vehicle with over 15 bullets.

Footage from closed-circuit television cameras showed that the assailants had placed him under surveillance and then followed him after he left his office.

The QCPD quickly launched a special investigation task group to look into the case. Chief Supt. Joselito Esquivel, QCPD director, earlier said that the ambush was most likely a “professional hit” or the work of hired gunmen.

Monsalve said that while two men on motorcycles were earlier considered persons of interest, probers were now focusing their investigation on a biker who acted as a “spotter.”

Although the man’s face was captured by the CCTV camera at one of the entrances to the city hall compound, Monsalve said that investigators were still validating his identity because the footage was quite blurry.

Velasco was the 13th prosecutor in the country to be killed since 1992, according to acting Prosecutor General Jorge Catalan Jr. of the Department of Justice.

Hardworking, kind

“I worked with Prosecutor Velasco when I was assigned in Quezon City for four years. He was very kind. He was very hardworking. I heard he received death threats before but I did not expect he would be killed at this age. He was about to retire and then this dreaded thing happened,” Catalan said.

Velasco was also the second prosecutor to be killed in Quezon City after Assistant Prosecutor Noel Mingoa was shot dead in front of a restaurant in January 2017.