Ex-cop charged in court for traffic aide’s death

Charges were filed in court against the former policeman accused of fatally shooting a traffic enforcer in barangay Banilad, Cebu City last Thursday.

Geoffrey Borinaga will be facing trial for murder and possession of illegal drugs.

Bail was recommended at P200,000 for the drug possession case. Borinaga, however, will remain in jail since murder is a non-bailable offense.

Borinaga was subsequently ordered committed to the Cebu City Jail.

Borinaga was arrested by police as a suspect in the fatal shooting of Armando Daligdig of the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom).

Police recovered a .45 caliber pistol and a stick of marijuana from the accused.

The accused chose not to undergo preliminary investigation which could have given him a chance to submit a counter-affidavit and refute the allegations when the charges were still at the Cebu City Prosecutors’ Office.

Ballistics examination results showed that the gun seized from Borinaga was the same gun used in the killing of Daligdig, said Senior Supt. Mariano Natu-el Jr., acting chief of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO).

Borinaga, who was dismissed from the police service in 2008, also tested positive for gunpowder burns.

Borinaga denied involvement in the killing.

Natu-el said the results of the tests bolstered the charges filed against Borinaga.

Although a case has been filed in court, Natu-el said the investigation will continue and that the investigators will continue to look for more witnesses.

At least four witnesses identified Borinaga as the gunman, police said.