Cops eye leftist group in EARIST official's murder

MANILA, Philippines - Police officers are investigating the possibility that a left-leaning group could be behind the murder of the executive vice president of Eulogio “Amang” Rodriguez Institute of Science and Technology (EARIST) in Sta. Mesa, Manila Friday night, police said yesterday.

Noel Cabrera, 46, was shot by motorcycle-riding men minutes after he drove out of the school gates. He joined EARIST in 2003 and was reportedly being groomed to be the next president of the college.

“We are looking at the possibility that some leftist groups are behind this, although usually they come out and claim (responsibility). So far, no one has owned up to the crime,” Police Officer 3 Alonzo Layugan said.

Cabrera is the second EARIST official to be killed in an ambush. Administrative officer Alvin Asuncion was killed in Quezon City on April 14, 2010.

Cabrera’s killing is the second assassination of a school official in the Sta. Mesa area in the past seven months. Polytechnic University of the Philippines vice president for administration Augustus Cezar was shot dead in October 2011.

Death threats

A source told The STAR that several officials, including the victim, had been receiving death threats after the school board of trustees approved the collection of a P1,000 development fee and a P500 energy fee from incoming freshmen for the construction of a new building.

The source said two other officials who have been receiving threats are school president Dr. Eduardo Caillo and vice president of international affairs Dr. James Kim.

EARIST, a chartered state college, has approximately 15,000 students and sits on a 5,000 square-meter lot. The source said 3,000 square meters of the land is owned by the school, while the rest is owned by the city government.

School officials had earlier received a letter from the city government informing them that the government will begin using the land by June, the source said. Because of this, EARIST decided to construct a new building to accommodate the colleges that will be displaced when the city government takes over the property.

The source said Cabrera spent Friday morning in a meeting with Caillo and the college deans.