5 charged for Baron slay

Murder charges were filed yesterday by the Department of Justice (DOJ) against Police Superintendent Rafael Cardeño and four others who allegedly conspired to kill Young Officers Union (YOU) spokesman Baron Cervantes last year.

The three-man panel that handled the probe concluded that there was enough evidence to indict alleged mastermind Cardeño, confessed gunman Joseph Mostrales and cohorts Santiago "Sonny" Camacho, Jaime Centeno and Erlindo Torres.

"All told, we find ample evidence sufficient to establish probable cause against respondents, confederating with one another, for the offense charged," the government prosecutors said. The offense carries no bail.

Senior State Prosecutor Theodore Villanueva, panel head, and State Prosecutors Roberto Lao and Mark Jalandoni said the suspects "evidently conspired to eliminate Cervantes when they came to an agreement" and eventually carried it out.

While he is represented by lawyer Homobono Adaza, Cardeño is still at large.

They explained that Cardeño cannot feign ignorance for the imputed offense. "He was given the opportunity to dispute the accusations leveled against him but chose not to do so."

Three other suspects in the case – suspected kidnappers Eugene Radam, Diosdado Santos and Rodolfo Patinio – were killed in a dawn shootout with lawmen in Cavite City last Sept. 18.

Mostrales, Centeno and Torres are now under the custody of the National Anti-kidnapping Task Force (NAKTAF) in Camp Crame.

For his part, Camacho denied he was Cervantes’ textmate who traded coded messages with him minutes before he was shot in the head with Mostrales’ 9 mm pistol.

He said he lost his mobile phone 10 days prior to the incident in a party at the Land Transportation Office, where he worked as an inspector.

Camacho also argued the text message was "inadmissible" because Cervantes had no knowledge that it was actually he who was texting him.

The panel argued that Cervantes and Camacho knew each other’s numbers and the former, under normal circumstances, could not have exchanged text messages with a stranger other than Camacho himself.

Prosecutors said they were "satisfied" with the evidence presented by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, saying the text messages were "authentic and was not tampered in any manner."

Cervantes, who revealed a plot to topple the Arroyo government, was gunned down in front of a drug store at the corner of Times and Alabang-Zapote Road in Pamplona, Las Piñas City on Dec. 31, 2001.