Ready to turn himself in

A dry goods trader implicated in the slaying of Ateneo law graduate Jose Ramon Llamas in Pasay City last week has sent surrender feelers to the National Bureau of Investigation, an official of the bureau said yesterday.

The NBI official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said suspect Cola Didato, 33, of Block 21, Lot 3, Datu Ismael, Area H, Dasmariñas, Cavite, has conveyed through a relative his willingness to turn himself in to the NBI.

The official refused to divulge additional details about the surrender feelers sent by Didato, a Marawi City native who closed his dry goods store at the Kadiwa Complex in Dasmariñas, Cavite and went into hiding with his wife Noriana.

Earlier, the NBI said they have a 60 to 70 percent positive match between Didato and a sketch of the gunman. Investigators said a witness also identified Didato as the one who shot the 26-year-old Llamas after their vehicles bumped each other near the corner of Taft Avenue and Gil Puyat last Friday afternoon.

However, unless the case is filed in court and a warrant of arrest is issued, the NBI can no longer arrest Didato in connection with Llamas’ killing since the prescribed period of 72 hours to arrest and detain a person for murder had already lapsed.

Llamas was on his way to De La Salle University to inquire about a teaching job when his silver Toyota Corolla car bumped a motorcycle, causing its driver to be thrown off the vehicle.

The enraged driver then shot Llamas three times at close range with a 9 mm. pistol. He later fled, leaving behind the motorcycle.

Earlier, a verification with the Land Transportation Office revealed that the motorcycle with yellow plates (VM 2047) was registered under the name of Didato.

Meanwhile, Superintendent Jery Barias, of the PNP Firearms and Explosives Division, said the name of Cola Didato did not appear in their list of persons authorized to carry firearms.

He said if Didato was indeed the Pasay gunman, he had no license to own or permit to carry a gun.

In the aftermath of the Llamas slay, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jose Lina Jr. ordered the PNP to submit an action plan on the control of firearms as part of efforts to maintain an updated database on all licensed gun owners. – With Christina Mendez