5 detainees face murder raps for killing cellmates

Police filed double murder charges against five detainees who stabbed dead their two “comrades” in the Metro Manila District Jail (MMDJ) in Bicutan, Taguig Tuesday afternoon.

Senior Superintendent Camilo Cascolan, Taguig police chief, said the charges were filed at the Taguig City Prosecutor’s Office.

He said an investigation is now ongoing to determine the motive behind the incident that left Brandy Nilo Gerona, 29; and Rommel Bayen, 38, dead. Cascolan cannot yet confirm if a conflict or an argument within the group led to the killing of the two victims.

Gerona and Bayen, members of the revolutionary Alex Boncayao Brigae, were tagged as the killers of leftist labor leader Felimon “Popoy” Lagman in 2001 and Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay’s trusted security aide, Pablo Glean, in 2007.

The suspects charged for the murder of Gerona and Bayen are Randy Puno, 29; Chito Catbagan, 25; Victor Valdez, 25; Jobert Dumlao, 23; and Ernesto Errua, 28. They face other charges ranging from murder, kidnapping, and robbery that are still being heard in different courts in Metro Manila.

Inmate Abelardo Siao, 47, told police Gerona told him that there was brewing trouble in his detention cell. Minutes later, he saw Gerona lying in a pool of blood in Cell 43 with the suspects standing next to the victim, holding bladed weapons.

Another inmate, Vicente Reynaldo Pit, 39, said he saw Valdez holding an ice pick and chasing Bayen, who tried to rush to Gerona’s side while the latter was being attacked.   – Rhodina Villanueva