Warrant is out: Family asks help in finding suspects

CEBU, Philippines - The family of Mario Alfie Ducayag, who was allegedly mauled to death at a shopping mall in Cebu City, is appealing to the public to help them locate the whereabouts of the suspects.

Ducayag’s sister, Marie Shantyle, and mother Fe Soledad, yesterday held a press conference and pleaded anyone who knows where suspects Mauricio Doblados, Jr. and Jeffrey Aquino are hiding to report to authorities.

“We are appealing to the public and asking for your help, if you have any information about the whereabouts of Doblados and Aquino, please contact or inform the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation)-7, police station and radio station,” they pleaded.

Marie Shantyle further said that their family also hopes that Melvin Boyles, who was dropped in the murder case, will tell the truth as to what really happened to her brother while inside the security room of the shopping mall.

She said Boyles is one of the key witnesses to the case.

Regional Trial Court Judge Wilfredo Navarro of Branch 19 issued on April 21, 2014 a warrant of arrest against Doblados, the mall’s former head of security, and Aquino, former closed-circuit television camera operator.

Marie Shantyle told the media that their family is happy and thankful that for over a year of waiting, the warrant is finally out.

“We waited about 55 days in the NBI, eight months in the prosecutor’s office and around a month in the RTC Branch 19,” she added.

It was the NBI-7 that conducted the investigation that resulted to the filing of complaint against Doblados, Aquino and Boyles before the Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office.

The three, in their respective counter-affidavits, denied killing Mario Alfie, who was accused of stealing a pair of Sandugo sandals inside the mall.

Boyles was dropped from the charge for lack of evidence while Doblados and Aquino were held for trial.

On April 12 last year, Mario Alfie was reportedly taken inside the mall’s security room to check through the CCTV if he indeed paid the item. Instead of verifying, the suspects reportedly mauled him to death.

Meanwhile, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group is now helping the NBI-7 arrest Doblados and Aquino.

CIDG-7 director Ritchie Posadas has sent a manhunt team to locate the suspects, following the release of the warrant of arrest.

Posadas said that they could not yet determine for now if the suspects are still in Cebu.

“This is now a challenge for us to arrest them, but still we encourage them to surrender but if not, we will look for them,” Posadas said, adding that they still need the cooperation of the community. —NSA (FREEMAN)