GUNMAN IN RESUELLO SLAY ARRESTED

Manhunt on for other shooters

LINGAYEN–The Philippine National Police (PNP) vowed to get to the bottom of the murder of San Carlos City Mayor Julian Resuello following the arrest of one of the principal suspects.

Presiding at a news conference at the PNP provincial headquarters here on Thursday morning, Police Director General Oscar Calderon said an intensive manhunt is on for the other direct participants in the shooting since what the police have so far is just the principal by direct participation identified as Angelito Soriano, a native of San Carlos City.

Soriano was arrested while being treated at the Elguera Hospital of two bullet wounds in both legs.

“We are going into the second level, that is to look for the principal by inducement or the one who actually ordered the direct participants,” said Calderon during the press conference also attended by Police Regional Director Chief Superintendent Leopoldo Bataoil, Police Provincial Director Isagani Nerez, and Superintendent Manuel Velasco, head of Task Force Resuello.

Resuello, who was serving his third and last term as mayor and was running for vice mayor, was shot and critically wounded while shaking hands with his constituents inside a jampacked auditorium Saturday night during the city fiesta. He died early Monday morning in a Manila hospital, barely 33 hours after the incident which also killed one of his aides, Eulogio Martinez, and wounded seven others.

Calderon said the police at first thought Soriano was just among those wounded by stray bullets inside the crowded San Carlos City auditorium.

Soriano was arrested and elevated to the category of principal suspect based on numerous information provided by concerned citizens to the police linking him to the shooting as well as evidence from the crime scene.

On top of this, Soriano was found positive of gunpowder nitrates in his right hand when paraffin tested by Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) soon after he was positively identified by SPO2 Jaime Almoite, a close-in security of Resuello, who was among those wounded in the incident.

Almoite, now confined at the Virgen Milagrosa Hospital, identified Soriano as the one whom he traded shots with after Resuello fell to the ground by the initial bursts of gunfire.

Soriano and the other suspect, Cesar de Guzman, and two John Does are now facing cases of double murder and multiple frustrated murder filed last Wednesday before the San Carlos City Prosecution Office.

De Guzman was identified as a former house help of the Resuello family who was dismissed after allegedly raping a family household staff.

He was also pinpointed in a recent police report as the principal suspect in the shooting of two traffic aides in front of the San Carlos City Public Market at dawn of April 25. The victims are members of the Guardians Brotherhood Association and supporters of the Resuellos. Police earlier discounted this shooting as politically-motivated.

Calderon revealed there are strong indications that one or two of the suspects were hired guns because  the empty shell for a Caliber 45 pistol bullet found at the crime scene cross-matched  with the bullets found at the crime scene where the late Vice Mayor Adolfo Aquino of Mapandan in 2005 was killed.

Police have yet to ascertain whether Soriano has any relations with the family of the political opponent of the Resuellos.

Earlier in the week, Bataoil said politics cannot be ruled out as the motive but they are also looking into the angle of cattle rustlers getting back at the mayor who put intense pressure on the illegal activity, especially in barangay Balite Sur which is tagged as the biggest lair of cattle rustlers all over Pangasinan.

A P500,000 reward has been set by concerned citizens for the arrest of De Guzman. Of the amount, P200,000 came from House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. as Resuello is a party-member, Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats.–LM, EVA

Share your Comments or Reactions

comments

Powered by Facebook Comments