Suspect in Aurora publisher’s slay falls

CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga — One of the suspects in the slaying of a community newspaper publisher-editor in Aurora was arrested yesterday, officials said.

Aurora provincial police director Senior Superintendent Amador Pabustan said Rey Morete was apprehended by police and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents while taking refuge at a relative’s house in Cabanatuan City in Nueva Ecija.

Pabustan said Morete later admitted to killing Philip Agustin, publisher and editor of the Starline Times Recorder, last Tuesday.

Agustin was shot at his residence in Barangay Paltic in Dingalan, Aurora.

But Morete later claimed it was his cousin, Boyet Morete, who fatally shot Agustin through a window. He also tagged his companion Anual Alday in the murder.

"We believe that both Rey and his cousin Boyet fired at Agustin. Our investigations indicated that there were two persons who fired, one from the door of Agustin’s house and another from the window," Pabustan said.

He noted Agustin sustained a bullet wound to the head and another in the back near the spinal cord.

Pabustan said Morete will undergo paraffin testing to determine whether he recently fired a gun.

Pabustan said their investigation revealed Boyet Morete belonged to a notorious gun-for-hire syndicate. He added the trio probably carried out the hit against Agustin on orders from a mastermind.

"We will know the mastermind if he (Boyet) is arrested," he added.

Rey Morete reportedly confessed that the plot to kill Agustin was hatched at his house in Dingalan.

Central Luzon police director Chief Superintendent Alejandro Lapinid added Morete will be taken into the custody of the NBI on Monday for the inquest.

Lapinid also ordered the wide manhunt for Boyet Morete and Alday to continue, covering six other provinces in the entire Central Luzon.

"I expect the search (will) be extended nationwide. The national police headquarters have already been provided with photos of the suspects," Pabustan added.

He clarified the murder charges filed last Friday against the suspects did not include Rey Morete.

He explained that the complaint had identified one unknown suspect as "John Doe." The suspect’s name will be included later in the amended complaint.

"There could be a fourth suspect who might have served as a lookout, but we have named only three respondents in our criminal complaint based on accounts of witnesses," Pabustan added.

He said the local police in Dingalan were assisted by police from the regional headquarters in Camp Olivas in arresting the suspect.

He added the arrest is raising a number of questions — and a few eyebrows — in Dingalan.

"The revelation of the identities of the suspects has somehow given rise to tension in Dingalan," Pabustan said.

"The group of Morete is not just any group. It’s a highly notorious (crime) group."

Pabustan pointed out that Boyet had been on the town’s wanted list of most notorious criminals.

Boyet Morete is also wanted for the killing of an Army trooper on March 12, 2003 and for the murder of a policeman in Casiguran, Quezon in 1993.

Police investigators noted the allegations aired by Agustin’s family in articles published in his local newspaper might have led to his killing.

Agustin’s paper had published a report calling on Dingalan town Mayor Jaime Ylarde to come clean over alleged missing government funds.

But Ylarde has denied any involvement in the killing, although he admitted knowing two of the suspects, Rey Morete and Alday, noting they are residents of the town.

Ylarde claimed many residents also know Morete and Alday. Alday is an employee of a hardware store owned by his parents in the town proper.

There were reports that Alday was also an employee of the Dingalan municipal government.

Ylarde admitted he was infuriated by Agustin’s report but denied any involvement in the crime, vowing to extend help in solving the newsman’s murder. — With Jaime Laude, Ric Sapnu