Chua slay suspect yields

A suspect in the grisly abduction and murder of University of Santo Tomas Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) cadet Mark Welson Chua last year surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation over the weekend.

Arnulfo Aparri Jr., 20, gave himself up to agents of the NBI’s Anti-Organized Crime Division (AOCD) last Saturday shortly after a warrant for his arrest was issued.

NBI director Reynaldo Wycoco told reporters that Aparri’s surrender could help convince the other suspects in the case to do the same.

Last Oct. 31, the NBI formally charged Aparri and other UST ROTC cadet officers Michael Von Rainard Manangbao, of Sta. Mesa, Manila; Eduardo Tabrilla of Pasay City; Paul Joseph Tan of Binondo; and Patrick Christopher Cruz of San Juan for alleged involvement in the Chua case.

Wycoco added that the NBI would also secure the extradition of Manangbao, the son of a Cabanatuan police superintendent, who is now reportedly in San Francisco, California.

"We will work for his extradition, now that we have an arrest warrant for him. We are now trying to determine his (whereabouts) in the United States," Wycoco said.

Wycoco also told reporters that the NBI also does not intend to use Aparri as a state witness in the case. "I asked our investigators, and they said we don’t need him. We have enough witnesses to prove our case. But if he’ll say something against the others, it will be very helpful," he said.

According to Wycoco, Aparri surrendered to the NBI through Army Maj. Emmanuel Sison at 6 p.m. Primitivo Najera Jr., NBI case investigator, told reporters that Aparri was in the UST’s Department of Military Science and Tactics (DMST) office when the other suspects allegedly abducted Chua.

"He was there when the victim was wrapped with masking tape. He witnessed the victim being brought out of the office and loaded into a white vehicle. Many witnesses have made similar statements to that effect," Najera said.

Last April, the NBI filed charges against Genesis Binagatan, an Army reservist who according to the NBI, allegedly masterminded the abduction and murder of Chua, then 19 years old, last March.

Chua’s body was fished out of the Pasig River, at the back of the Bureau of Immigration building last March 18, just days after he disappeared. His body was wrapped in a carpet, his hands and face wrapped in masking tape.