Suspect in Valerio slay case arrested

A principal suspect in the gunslaying of chief Government Corporate Counsel Jun Valerio last year, was arrested by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation in Tangub City, Misamis Occidental last week.

The NBI identified the suspect as Antonio Cabador Jr., alias "Jimmy Lagro," a former Senior Police Officer 1 of the Western Police District.

Cabador, according to the NBI, is allegedly the lover of the victim’s widow, Milagros Valerio, who allegedly planned the killing with the help of other suspects Samuel Baran, Martin Jimenez and Geronimo Quintana. Milagros, Baran, Jimenez and Quintana were all arrested May 12 last year. Valerio was shot dead in Mapang-akit St., Barangay Pinyahan, Quezon City on March 18.

According to the NBI, Cabador, who went into hiding, was traced to Tangub City. Last Nov. 8, a team from the NBI Northeastern Mindanao Regional Office led by Jose Limmayog, moved in to arrest Cabador at his house in Purok 1, Barangay Silanga, Tangub City.

The NBI said a brief firefight ensued after Cabador allegedly pulled out a caliber .45 pistol and opened fire at the arresting agents.

Meanwhile, the police are now hunting the driver of a passenger jeepney who ran over and killed a news reporter of the tabloid Bulgar yesterday in Fairview, Quezon City.

Victim Rudy Peralta, 33, a Camp Crame beat reporter, sustained fatal head and body injuries and was pronounced dead on arrival by attending physicians at the Fairview General Hospital. The jeepney driver did not stop and sped away right after he hit Peralta. Witnesses, however, failed to get the license plate of the vehicle. — Mike Frialde and Matthew Estabillo