Dagsa gunman's 'handler' flees

MANILA, Philippines - Police launched yesterday a search for a man suspected of being the handler of a gunman caught on camera by a slain Caloocan councilman moments before he was shot dead.

City police chief Senior Superintendent Jude Santos said the alleged handler, a resident of Barangay 35 in Maypajo, disappeared when news of the other suspects in the killing of barangay councilman Reynaldo Dagsa came out.

Santos said the man could be the “absolute key” to finding the real mastermind and the motive behind Dagsa’s murder.

He said the handler’s name appeared on the cell phone of Arnel Buenaflor, 26, the gunman caught on camera pointing a gun at Dagsa while the victim was taking pictures of his family on New Year’s Eve.

Santos said the man appeared to be giving instructions to Buenaflor and his cohorts and the other text messages indicated there are other people behind the crime.

Dagsa was accorded yesterday a hero’s burial at the Eternal Garden Memorial Park in Caloocan City at around 1 p.m. “He was accorded a full military burial with a 21-gun salute and the folding of the flag,” Santos told The STAR.

Apart from being an elected village official, Dagsa had been very active in fighting crime as a member of the barangay peacekeeping action team (BPAT). He was also an Army reserve corporal.

Santos said the burial was heavily guarded by Special Weapons and Tactics teams and police officers on patrol. He added that Dagsa’s fellow reservists and BPAT members were on alert. “The funeral was done peacefully,” he said. 

But while Dagsa was laid to rest, Santos said they are still working hard to resolve the case, which he described as “getting deeper, so we need to get the supposed handler.”

Santos said Buenaflor is just a “hitman” with pending cases not only in Caloocan City but also in other courts in Metro Manila.

Buenaflor was formally charged with murder Saturday night before the office of Calocoan City assistant prosecutor Darwin Canete.

Buenaflor and his girlfriend, Loraine Castro, 26, were arrested by a team led by Chief Inspector Rodrigo Soriano in Aurora, Isabela Thursday night.

Buenaflor said he wanted to kill Dagsa out of revenge as the councilman allegedly tried to kill him last November. He said he fired two shots at the councilman but was not sure whether it was his gun’s bullets that killed Dagsa.

Buenaflor said his alleged lookout, Michael Rollon, 27, who also appeared in the picture taken by the slain councilman before he was shot dead, was also armed.