Aborlan, Palawan (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN) - The second suspect, who fell in the hands of the police, further implicated a former local government official in the crime, saying he had received an instruction from his recruiter to scratch out the serial number from the gun that was owned by the said former official in the Philippines' southern province of Palawan.
This developed as Filipino broadcaster and environmental activist Gerry Ortega was laid to rest in his hometown of Aborlan Sunday (January 30) amid an outpouring of support from various parts of the country.
Ortega, an outspoken broadcast journalist, was gunned down on January 24 while shopping for clothes in a shop by a hired killer, purportedly due to his work as a journalist.
Investigators were closing in on several other key suspects expected to shed light on the identity of the mastermind behind the killing.
Dennis Aranas, one of several companions of confessed gunman Marlon Recamata Dichaves who had been charged for murder, was brought to Puerto Princesa City, Palawan province's capital on Sunday from Pagbilao, Quezon province, by elements of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) for inquest.
Aranas was arrested by CIDG agents in Coron, Palawan, on Friday afternoon.
He told reporters following his arrival at the CIDG Palawan headquarters in Puerto Princesa that they had forgotten to erase the serial number engraved on the gun using a nail, as instructed by a certain Junjun Bomar "para hindi madamay si attorney (so that attorney will not be incriminated)."
Aranas was referring to lawyer Romeo Seratubias, who was established to be the owner of the .45 cal. handgun that was used in the shooting.
Seratubias had alternately served as provincial legal officer and provincial administrator of Palawan, some 680km south of the Philippines' capital Manila.
He had told investigators that he had long sold the gun to Percival Lesias, also a Capitol employee. Lesias, in turn, claimed he gave it to a certain Armando Noel Loria, alias Salbakuta.
Police had said Loria was one of those who accompanied the gunman when they came to Puerto Princesa by plane on Jan. 19.
Puzzle
Investigators said they were close to unraveling the mastermind behind the killing, adding that they were closing in on Bomar who they believe is the link to the mastermind.
A source has told the Inquirer that Bomar, which is not his real name, used to be a security aide of former Marinduque governor Jose Antonio "Bong" Carreon.
The same source claimed Carreon released Bomar following the elections to work for former Palawan governor Joel Reyes.
The former Palawan governor, who is reportedly on vacation in Europe, has yet to break his silence on the case.
Reyes' former spokesperson and current provincial board member Rolando Bonoan has issued a statement denying his former boss' participation in the killing of Ortega.
Burial
Thousands of supporters and townmates of Ortega joined the afternoon procession to the cemetery where Ortega's remains were laid.
"His death will not be in vain. We will make sure that Gerry's dreams for Palawan will come true," Gina Lopez of ABS-CBN network said.
Ortega, apart from his daily radio program at RMN Palawan, was project manager of ABC-CBN Foundation's program in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan's capital.
In his daily morning program, he had repeatedly attacked mining companies and a certain provincial government official linked to allegations of graft and corruption.
Rowena Paraan, secretary general of the National Union of Journalists (NUJP), said in an interview that they would ask the Department of Justice and the government to beef up the capability of the investigating body working on the case "so we don't lose the momentum after unearthing a lot of vital information from the suspects to unmask the mastermind."
Paraan also expressed concern over the possibility of escalating violence in Palawan, considered to be the last frontier and a favourite holdiay destination in the Philippines, "while the mastermind remains unidentified and at large" and urged local authorities to be more vigilant.
