2 suspects in killing of UST student arrested

Two suspects in the abduction and slay of University of Santo Tomas student Mark Chua last month were arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation Special Action Unit (SAU) yesterday.

The suspects were identified by SAU chief Edmund Arugay as Jeffrey Binagatan and his brother Genesis Binagatan.

According to the SAU, the suspects, staff sergeants involved in the UST Reserve Officers Training Corps, were arrested at their house on the corner of Cavite and Elias streets in Sta. Cruz, Manila, at about 11 a.m.

The NBI said the suspects were identified by two witnesses as the ones who allegedly threw Chua’s body into the Pasig River.

It will be recalled that Chua, an engineering student and UST ROTC cadet, was abducted last March 15. His body was found floating in the Pasig River at the back of the Bureau of Immigration building.

Chua’s hands were tied behind his back with a shoelace, his head was wrapped in masking tape, his feet were also bound with tape and his body was wrapped in a brown carpet when found.

According to his relatives, Chua was abducted and killed after he exposed alleged anomalies in the UST ROTC to reporters of the Varsitarian, the UST campus newspaper.

Last December, Chua accused officials of the UST Department of Military Science and Tactics (DMST), which is in charge of the UST ROTC program, of allegedly accepting bribes and extorting money from cadets.

Chua’s complaint was later filed with the Department of National Defense’s Regional Community Defense Group, which conducted a month-long investigation and ordered the relief of UST ROTC Commandant, Major Demy Tejares and other officials.

Meanwhile, Manila policemen arrested last Tuesday night three members of the Bahala Na Gang for robbing jeepney passengers in Plaza Lawton.

Police reports identified those arrested as Lemuel Labora, 19, James Bandong, 24, and Christopher Ando, 21.

Investigation showed that at about 11 p.m., the suspects were robbing a Sta. Cruz-bound jeepney when the vehicle was stopped by Western Police District policemen manning an election gun ban checkpoint at the foot of MacArthur Bridge.

As the jeepney slowed down to a stop, policemen manning the checkpoint were surprised when the three suspects suddenly jumped-off and ran. – Mike Frialde