Baron slay suspects plead ‘not guilty’

Three of the five suspects in the killing of self-styled Young Officers’ Union (YOU) spokesman Baron Alexander Cervantes pleaded "not guilty" yesterday at their arraignment before a Las Piñas City Regional Trial Court (RTC) judge.

Ex-Marine Sgt. Joseph Mostrales, Jaime Centeno, and Erlindo Torres have been charged with Cervantes’ murder in the sala of Branch 275 Judge Bonifacio Sanz Maceda.

The alleged principal suspect in the Dec. 31, 2001 killing, YOU leader Senior Superintendent Rafael Cardeño and another suspect, Santiago "Sonny" Camacho, remain at large. Maceda ordered their arrest last Oct. 15.

Maceda also allowed Mostrales, Centeno, and Torres to remain detained at the maximum security detention center of the defunct National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force (NAKTAF) at the Philippine National Police (PNP) headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City. NAKTAF has since been replaced by the Police Anti-Crime Emergency Response (PACER) team.

Last Oct. 17, Maceda ordered the transfer of the accused from Camp Crame to the Las Piñas City jail. However, both the prosecution and defense lawyers as well as PACER officials asked the judge to reconsider his order.

In an affidavit submitted to the Department of Justice (DOJ), which conducted the preliminary investigation of the case, Mostrales confessed to being the gunman hired by Cardeño. In separate affidavits, Centeno and Torres admitted to conducting a surveillance of the Cervantes’ home in Las Piñas.

Three other suspects who admitted their participation, Rolando Patinio, Diosdado Santos, and Eugene Radam, were killed in a shootout in General Trias, Cavite.

At the courtroom before the arraignment, Mostrales said he himself preferred to be detained at the PACER headquarters.

The accused said he feared for his life after Patinio, Santos, and Radam were killed.

Cervantes, who revealed a plot to topple the Arroyo government, was gunned down in front of a drugstore at the corner of Times and Alabang-Zapote Road in Pamplona, Las Piñas City last year.