Bicol contractors eyed in whistle-blower's slay

MANILA, Philippines - The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) said yesterday that it has sent an investigating team to Bicol following reports that the slain whistle-blower Wilfredo “Boy” Mayor and two others were at the height of preparations to expose the alleged illegal dealings of two contractors in Bicol prior to his death.

NCRPO chief Director Roberto Rosales said the team will coordinate with Mayor’s family in Daraga, Albay to determine whether the victim had received death threats recently.

“We strongly believe the solution to Mayor’s case lies in Bicol. He was just ambushed in Metro Manila,” he said.

Mayor and his nephew, Rommel Mayor, 39, and son-in-law and driver Allan Benedict Castro, 39, were on their way home after spending time in a casino in Malate, Manila when they were ambushed by two motorcycle-riding gunmen along MIA Road in Pasay City at about 4:30 a.m. Sunday.

Mayor was declared dead on arrival at the San Juan de Dios Hospital, his nephew was declared out of danger yesterday while Castro was unhurt.

According to the NCRPO, Mayor was working with fellow whistle-blower Sandra Cam and retired Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz prior to his murder.

Mayor, who confessed to being a jueteng operator, testified in a 2005 Senate inquiry that President Arroyo's son, Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel Arroyo, sent bagmen to get jueteng payoffs from him. Arroyo denied the charges.

Bagging deals

Cruz said yesterday that Mayor, who was also a small-time contractor, had been complaining about irregularities in bagging Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) contracts.

Cruz, who handled Mayor during the Senate inquiry on jueteng, said a prominent figure in the construction industry who can corner all the big projects may be behind Mayor’s death.

Cruz believes that the big-time contractor, who reportedly has political connections and benefits from constructing projects sponsored by countrywide development funds, might be involved.

DPWH Undersecretary Rafael Yabut said they will not be conducting any investigation into alleged reports of irregularities in the agency’s Region 5 office.

“We would leave it up to the investigators. If Archbishop Cruz knows something, then maybe the investigators should interview him,” Yabut said.

Cruz also said Mayor obtained information on some alleged ghost projects, names and amounts of anomalous deals, but the information has yet to be verified.

“Mayor is one of the small-time contractors, and that is why he was angry, because he was unable to get any of the projects. Some say that Mayor had a lot of projects in his name, but if it is true… then why did he complain that he did not have projects?” Cruz said.

He said the last time he saw Mayor, the victim had lost weight and appeared sickly. According to Cruz, Mayor admitted that he was confined in a hospital for several days due to high blood pressure and sugar levels.

Cruz said he does not need to get bodyguards, noting that if “they really want to have me killed, then even if there was one battalion they would be able to kill me.”

Other angles

Rosales said they are also looking into reports that Mayor was already paid on a road construction project he allegedly abandoned, that Mayor incurred large debts with casino financiers, and that there are plans to kick him out of the Small Town Lottery bookie operations in the Bicol region.

Rosales’ team is composed of veteran investigators from the Pasay City police and the Southern Police District.

Pasay City police chief Senior Superintendent Raul Petrasanta said “they are looking at all angles here. Information that after testifying on the jueteng issue, Mayor became a contractor and dealt with different local and national agencies concerning different infrastructure projects reached us,” he said.

Petrasanta said it is possible that his transactions for certain projects could have something to do with his murder. – With Rhodina Villanueva, Jose Rodel Clapano, Aurea Calica