Reward for cops involved in arrest of suspect in Ballacillo killing pushed

Officials of the Southern Police District (SPD) are set to release the P200,000 reward to be given to police authorities who worked to arrest the principal suspect in the killing of assistant Solicitor General Nestor Ballacillo a month ago in Parañaque City.

Superintendent Ronald Estilles, Parañaque police chief, said the P200,000 reward raised by the SPD will be given to operatives of the Southern Police District, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG)-Camp Crame, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Cavite police, who all had significant participation in the operations that led to the arrest of Cristo Rey Garcia.

Garcia was arrested by policemen while being treated for a gunshot wound at the Philippine General Hospital last Dec. 20. He was wounded in a robbery incident when his intended victim struggled to get the gun from him and eventually shot him in the abdomen.

Based on police records, Garcia has at least 20 pending warrants of arrest for murder, frustrated murder, illegal drugs, car theft, robbery, among others, committed in Cavite and Metro Manila.

The police said it was Garcia who shot Ballacillo and son Benedict while they were waiting for a ride along Hernandez Avenue in Barangay San Antonio last Dec. 6.

The elder Ballacillo was one of the OSG lawyers handling the long-running dispute over the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 (NAIA-3). He is the second official linked to the case to be killed almost a year after Pasay City Regional Trial Court Judge Henrick Gingoyon was shot dead in Cavite Dec. 31 last year.

The teams coming from the four anti-crime agencies will reportedly be receiving P50,000 each. The cash reward will be handed to SPD director Chief Superintendent Roberto Rosales, Superintendent Benjamin delos Santos of the CIDG, Ruel Lasala, head of the NBI-National Capital Region and to the chief of the Cavite police.

The officials have all been notified. The informant who led them to the suspect, will also be given a cash reward.

Estilles said half of the amount collected came from City Mayor Florencio Bernabe while the other half was raised by the SPD and the National Capital Region Police Office.

He added that cash reward such as this serves as an incentive for policemen to work harder.