7 witnessed murder of former solon

CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga - At least seven people, including three policemen, saw the killing of former Lanao del Norte Rep. Mario Hisuler, police said yesterday.

Investigators, however, refused to identify the witnesses for security reasons, but gave assurance that they are now under police protection.

"If possible, their (witnesses') names should not be mentioned because they might get scared," a police source at Camp Olivas told reporters yesterday. "But they are now in police custody for their protection."

Senior Superintendent Francisco Villaroman, chief of the 3rd Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, said seven witnesses, including Hisuler's police escorts, have filed their testimonies and submitted themselves for investigation.

"Although we have already established leads, probers continue to conduct a case build-up for the solution of the murder case," he said.

Villaroman said a slug from a 5.56 mm Armalite rifle was found in Hisuler's body by doctors who conducted the autopsy.

Hisuler was shot dead by unidentified gunmen while visiting the grave of his best friend, former government corporate counsel Macario Valerio, last May 1.

Valerio was killed in front of his house in Quezon City, also by unidentified gunmen, in the early morning of April 18.

Meanwhile, Superintendent Aurelio Hiteroza, Nueva Ecija police director, denied newspaper reports that Jaen policemen are suspects in the killing of Hisuler.

"The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) was quoted out of context," he said.

Hiteroza said three Jaen policemen were invited by the NBI to give their testimonies but that they were not in the list of suspects who are being investigated.