Suspect nabbed in slay of Cebu village chair

CEBU CITY — Police had taken into custody the suspected gunman in the killing of the head of a village here tagged as drug-infested.

The killing of Felicisimo Rupinta, aka Imok, chair of Ermita village, was being linked to the drug trade.

Police said the village chief could have been killed by drug suspects hurt by his shame campaign, which involved attaching tarpaulins with the words “Drug-Free” to houses.

The suspected gunman, Jimmy Largo, 41, was arrested on Friday less than 24 hours after Rupinta was killed in an ambush in Liloan town, northern Cebu, while he was driving home.

Chief Supt. Jose Mario Espino, head of the Central Visayas police, said Largo was hired to kill Rupinta.

Work-related

“The killing has something to do with the victim’s work as barangay captain, particularly his desire to clean his place (of drugs),” Espino said in a news conference on Saturday.

“The evidence we gathered point to one angle—his work as barangay chair,” Espino said.

Jocelyn Mendoza, Rupinta’s common-law wife, identified Largo as one of four men involved in the attack on Rupinta. Mendoza was unharmed.

Supt. Reynaldo Magdaluyo, of the police special operations group in Central Visayas, said Largo was arrested following a tip.

Largo was about to leave his house in Ermita, Cebu City, carrying a bag containing all his belongings, when policemen arrested him around 8 p.m. on Friday.

Seized from him were a 9 mm submachine gun, a .45 caliber pistol, a hand grenade, two packs of “shabu” (crystal meth) and a motorcycle.

Mastermind known

Espino said police had already identified the person behind the killing of Rupinta but refused to reveal more details while an investigation was being conducted.

“We are preparing the affidavits, and we will file charges against the mastermind,” he said.

Largo remained silent when he was presented by police to media on Saturday. But when pressed by reporters to issue a statement, the suspect said “I am not the one who killed Rupinta.”

Largo was detained at a police facility pending filing of complaints for murder, illegal possession of illegal drugs and illegal possession of firearms and explosives at the Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office today.

Espino said Largo was a high-value target of the Cebu City police and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas.

“He is a professional killer,” Espino said.

A source, who requested anonymity, said Largo was a distant relative of Jessie Largo, who allegedly shot and killed a son of a government worker in September. Jessie Largo was later killed by policemen who tried to arrest him.