Police identify brains of Benaojan murder

The provincial police yesterday claimed to have known the identity of the alleged mastermind in last week's murder of Bantay Radyo reporter George Benaojan.

But provincial police director Vicente Loot said he would not yet divulge the identity of the mastermind so as not to jeopardize the ongoing manhunt operation against the triggerman.

Loot said they have already traced all Benaojan's activities, which gave them the idea of who was the mastermind, and added that what they have so far established was that the motive of the broadcaster's killing were his "actuations."

While Loot believed that once the alleged triggerman, Jinky Jagdon, is arrested, he will tell all to the authorities considering that he is just an ordinary gun-for-hire man.

"Mas maayo pang mosurender ang gunman kaysa maunhan siya sa mastermind because he will be safe if he is with us," Loot said.

Adriano Llanos, a friend of Benaojan who witnessed the incident, positively identified Jagdon as the one who shot Benaojan at a market in Talisay City.

Loot said they would file a case within the week against the other John Does involved in the killing of Benaojan.

He said that he was not satisfied with the way the Talisay City police handled the case because they failed to get the affidavits of the witnesses at the crime scene.

He added that the case filed against Jagdon had a minor defect, as the suspect's real name was Jinky Jagdon and not Dinky Jagdon, which was used in the filing of the case.

Meanwhile, the Cebu City Council has approved a resolution condemning the killing of Benaojan, saying that such act has no place in a civilized and freedom-loving society.

The resolution said the law enforcement agencies should be consistent in protecting the interest and welfare of journalists, and urged them to give justice to Benaojan's killing. - Flor Z. Perolina and Mitchelle P. Calipayan