Judge orders arrest of Baron slay suspect

A Las Piñas City judge ordered yesterday the arrest of Young Officers Union (YOU) leader, Senior Superintendent Rafael Cardeño, who has been charged with the killing of self-styled YOU spokesman Army Lt. Baron Cervantes on Dec. 31 last year in the city.

Aside from Cardeño, Judge Bonifacio Sanz Maceda of Branch 275 also ordered the arrest of one Santiago "Sonny" Camacho.

Cardeño was tagged as a principal suspect in the killing. Camacho, on the other hand, was an employee of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) who allegedly set up a meeting with Cervantes and some other people before the slaying, according to Cervantes’ brother, Nick Cervantes.

Maceda also ordered the turnover of the three other suspects now detained at Camp Crame to the Las Piñas City jail, according to court officer-in-charge Leticia Agbayani.

Self-confessed gunman Marine Sgt. Joseph Mostrales as well as Erlindo Torres, and Jaime Centeno are detained at the maximum security detention center of the defunct National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force (NAKTAF).

Agbayani said the order is addressed to the chief of the defunct police unit, now Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. NAKTAF had been replaced by the Police Anti-Crime Emergency Response (PACER), which is concurrently headed by Ebdane.

Agbayani said the arraignment of Mostrales, Torres, and Centeno has been set for Oct. 24.

Cardeño has denied involvement in the incident but has since gone AWOL (absent without leave).

Maceda’s arrest warrant addressed to "any office of the law" indicated Cardeño’s address at B-14, 1-3, Boston Street, Golden Meadows Subdivision, Barangay San Antonio, Biñan, Laguna.

On the other hand, Camacho’s address on the arrest warrant is 7 Aquarius Street, Sierra Vista Subdivision, Phase 3, Cupang, Antipolo City.

Cervantes’ brother welcomed the judge’s issuance of the warrant of arrest.

"At least the case is moving. This has been long overdue considering that what happened last December involved the stability of our government. For a time, it seemed like nothing was being done," he told The STAR in a telephone interview.

Last Sept. 18, three other principal suspects in the Cervantes slay were killed in what police claimed was a shootout.

Rodolfo Patinio, former Marine soldiers Diosdado Santos and Eugene Radam were all killed in General Trias, Cavite. PACER agents claimed the three were involved in the kidnapping of a businessman.

But the Cervantes family expressed fear that the three suspects were executed to prevent them from unmasking the brains behind the police captain’s murder.

A University of the Philippines (UP) forensic expert said an autopsy conducted on Santos revealed that the victim was shot in the mouth at close range. The autopsy was requested by Santos’ family.

Patinio, Santos, and Radam allegedly conducted the surveillance at the Cervantes residence before the police captain was killed, according to Cervantes’ father, Rac.

But the Department of Justice (DOJ), which conducted the preliminary investigation into the case, said the killing of the three would not weaken the prosecution’s case against the suspects.

Patinio escaped from the Camp Crame detention cell with the late Faisal Marahombsar, the Pentagon Gang leader who was also killed in a shootout in Magallanes town, Cavite last Aug. 25.

Cardeño was the executive officer of former LTO chief Edgardo Abenina before he was implicated in the Cervantes killing.

Cardeño and Abenina were among the founding members of the Rebolusyonaryong Alyansang Makabayan (RAM), the progenitor of YOU. The RAM-YOU has been linked to an alleged coup and a plot to set up a military junta in the country.

Prior to his death, Cervantes blew the whistle on the alleged destabilization attempts by RAM against the Arroyo administration.

National Security Adviser Roilo Golez had admitted that Cervantes worked for his office, the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA).

Cervantes was shot at the corner of Times Street and Alabang-Zapote Road in Las Pinas last Dec. 31.

Hours before he was killed, Cervantes had gone to the house of civil society leader Pastor "Boy" Saycon in Ayala-Alabang in Muntinlupa supposedly to turn-over documents related to a plot to oust the President. – Nikko Dizon