Prosecutors uphold Pigon indictment for murder

The Cebu City Prosecutors’ Office has upheld the indictment of Arnulfo Pigon in the murder of former Sta. Fe mayor Rogelio Illustrisimo Sr., and the exclusion of the victim’s political rival, Domingo Zaspa, from the case.

This means that Pigon would now be charged in court for murder without bail, said Cebu City prosecutor Nicolas Sellon as he rejected Pigon’s motion to review the earlier indictment and to transfer the preliminary investigation of the case to Manila.

Assistant city prosecutor Marla Barcenilla, who investigated the case, said there was no convincing evidence also to include Zaspa in the case even if the latter was near the crime scene when Illustrisimo was gunned down last May 2.

Barcenilla said that it is understood that Zaspa would be at the crime scene near the office of the Commission on Elections at the Capitol because he attended a hearing at the Comelec over electoral matters.

Witnesses have positively identified Pigon as the alleged killer of Illustrisimo but he denied this allegations, claiming that he was somewhere in Cupang, Antipolo City at the time of the killing.

The filing of the case against Pigon in court has been held back for a while because of Pigon’s motions for reconsideration of his indictment and for transfer of the preliminary investigation to Manila, both of which were denied by the city prosecutors. – Fred P. Languido/RAE