Villarosa tagged in media slay

MANILA, Philippines - The widow of slain radio commentator and former Occidental Mindoro vice governor Crispin Perez Jr. has accused former congressman Jose Villarosa of being behind the murder of her husband last month.

In a supplemental sworn affidavit submitted before prosecutors of the Department of Justice (DOJ), Irene Perez accused Villarosa, husband of House Deputy Speaker Amelita Villarosa, of ordering the killing of her husband and even made the threat over a radio program an hour before the murder.

Mrs. Perez said her husband was murdered after insisting that the land owned by the Villarosas should be included in the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).

According to Mrs. Perez, she heard the former Masbate congressman saying that her husband’s days are numbered.

Mrs. Perez said she had recorded the broadcast in a compact disc, which would be submitted before the DOJ as additional evidence.

Villarosa was among those who were convicted in 2006 of killing the two sons of his political rival, former congressman and 1971 Constitutional Convention delegate Ricardo Quintos in 1997.

Two years later, the Court of Appeals overturned Villarosa’s conviction by the Quezon City regional trial court for lack of evidence. He was released from the National Penitentiary where he had been serving his sentence.

The CA, however, found the three other accused with Villarosa guilty of two counts of murder.

Mrs. Perez said her suspicion about Villarosa’s involvement in the murder of her husband came about when she heard Villarosa over radio Bambi FM airing the threat against her husband on June 9.

“Crispin, Crispin, Crispin, Hahaha payat ka na, nalalapit ka na (you are already skinny, the end is near),” Mrs. Perez quoted Villarosa as saying.

An hour after the broadcast, Mrs. Perez said her husband was shot dead, allegedly by Police Officer 2 Darwin Quimoyog, who initially posed as an indigent person seeking free legal assistance.

She also claimed a witness has come out to testify that Quimoyog was a bodyguard of Villarosa.

Mrs. Perez filed charges of murder against Quimoyog last July 2.

During the investigation, Mrs. Perez claimed seeing Quimoyog in their house in San Jose City at around 8:30 a.m. and thought he was a policeman seeking free legal assistance from her husband, who was also a lawyer.

Perez and Quimoyog talked for 25 minutes. After the meeting, as Perez led Quimoyog to the door, the policeman pulled out his handgun and shot the victim in the back.

Perez died instantly from two gunshot wounds, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said.

“When complainant rushed to rescue her husband, she saw the suspect still holding his gun and he stepped backwards. Complainant chased the assailant but when she was about to grab the assailant’s back, the latter tucked his handgun into his waist and managed to escape on board his motorcycle,” the NBI said in its report.

Perez has been included in the roster of journalists murdered this year.

The 66-year-old lawyer had just returned home after hosting his morning radio program “Sa Totoo Lang” when he was killed.