NBI eyes new plot in judge’s murder

The National Bureau of Investigation disclosed yesterday, on the eve of the first anniversary of the murder of Pasay Judge Henrick Gingoyon on Dec. 31, that a new angle is being investigated that involves the owners of a printing company that was ordered by the judge to pay more than P400 million of its debt.

NBI probers said the owner of the printing company could be the mastermind of the assassination of the Pasay judge exactly one year ago in Bacoor, Cavite.

Special Investigator 3 Ana Labao of the NBI-Reaction Arrest and Interdiction Division (RAID), said they are currently looking into reports that a businessman hired the gunmen to kill Gingoyon who was killed on Dec. 31, 2005.

Labao said Gingoyon’s death could be related to one of the cases he handled. Aside from speculations that his death was related to the Philippine International Air Terminals Co. (Piatco) case, the NBI also received information that a printing company based in Pasay City and owned by a Filipino-Chinese businessman might also have some knowledge about the circumstance surrounding his death.

"It seems that weeks before the judge’s death, he issued a decision on a petition filed for insolvency of a printing company, which was reportedly about to declare bankruptcy. The judge’s decision was prejudicial to the company and they were ordered to pay the more than P400 million debt," said Labao.

Gingoyon was also the judge who ordered the government to pay P3 billion to Piatco for the construction of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3. The airport was built under a contract signed by Piatco with the government in 1998. But after President Arroyo came into office, she revoked the contract in 2002, citing what her advisers said were terms that were unfavorable to the government.

At 12:20 p.m. of Dec. 31, 2005 Gingoyon, 53, just finished working out in a gymnasium and was walking towards his house in Soldier Hills, Barangay Molino in Bacoor, Cavite when he was shot dead by Rodolfo Cuer.

Follow-up operations conducted by the Philippine National Police (PNP) and NBI led to the capture of Cuer, Mark Datas, Rodolfo Baclor, Efren Samonte, Felimon Rabino and Sahid Sulaiman. Murder charges were filed against them at the Department of Justice (DOJ).

But Labao admitted that while they were able to arrest six of the suspects, they are still looking for the alleged middleman, identified as Hadji Alimudin, who they believe would be able to identify the financier or mastermind of the murder.

NBI agents recovered from Alimudin’s house the get-away motorcycle used by the killers. Alimudin was able to elude arrest because he immediately heard about the apprehension of his cohorts.

It was a P150,000 contract, but the six suspects failed to receive their payments because they were immediately arrested.

The murder case is already being heard in court and so far the victim’s wife Beatrice and two PNP Special Weapons And Tactics (SWAT) personnel have already given their testimony for the prosecution team and they gave the details of the arrest.