Suspect in Tondo slay arrested

Agents of the National Bureau of Investigation arrested last Tuesday the principal suspect in the gun-slaying of an anti-drug crusading barangay chairman in Tondo, Manila last Oct. 5.

The suspect, Bobby Avelino, alias Abel, 34, married, of Block 7, Bagong Lupa, Port Area, Manila, was presented to NBI director Federico Opinion yesterday.

Avelino, a former member of the Philippine Coast Guard, was arrested by agents of the NBI’s Anti-Organized Crime Division (AOCD) led by Samuel Fiji after a brief chase inside the BASECO compound in Tondo.

The chase ended aboard a moored barge where a short scuffle ensued resulting in a black right eye for the suspect, NBI agents said.

Also seized from Avelino’s shanty were a SPAG shotgun, a homemade caliber .357 revolver, a homemade 9 mm pistol, various rounds of ammunition, daggers and a small sword. A small quantity of shabu, a weighing scale and various drug sniffing paraphernalia were also taken from him.

NBI investigation report showed that Avelino was one of three men who allegedly shot dead barangay chairman Generoso Hispano along Muelle del Rio Street in Port Area, Manila.

Police reports said Hispano, chairman of Barangay Bagong Lupa, and a known anti-drug crusader, was driving home aboard a green barangay service jeep with plate number DPC540 after attending a meeting of barangay chairmen, when the suspects, blocked his path at about 8:45 p.m. – Mike Frialde