Espinosa’s brod: Get the mastermind

MASBATE CITY — The brother of slain Masbate City Mayor Moises Espinosa Jr. urged government probers yesterday to zero in on the mastermind after five suspects were arrested in a series of raids last week.

Whether the murder was politically motivated or related to illegal drugs, former vice governor Mario Espinosa, the victim’s brother, said, "It’s time for the authorities to identify and get the mastermind."

But he said he strongly believes that politics had something to do with the killing of his brother during a dance in the coastal village of Bantigue last Aug. 9.

The Task Force Espinosa has under its custody five suspects, namely Rolando Boncaras and Isagani Quidato, two of the three alleged triggermen; Quidato’s brother Charlie, a former provincial jail warden; Alex Alteza and Alberto Choy.

Alteza and Choy were both inmates at the provincial jail whom Charlie Quidato allegedly allowed to "escape" before the May 14 elections.

National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) director Reynaldo Wycoco earlier identified Boncaras, Isagani Quidato and one Alexander Bermoy as the gunmen. Bermoy is still at large.

Apparently corroborating the illegal drugs angle, Mario Espinosa said two to three kilos of shabu are believed being sold here every month, with drug pushers raking in P7 million to P7.5 million.

Some police officials said a drug syndicate could be behind the assassination of Moises Espinosa Jr., a known anti-illegal drugs crusader.

Meanwhile, the Task Force Espinosa is investigating the "escape" of Alteza and Choy from the provincial jail.

Local authorities recalled that a certain Orlando Danao asked the police last April 27 to look into complaints that prisoners were harassing and terrorizing barangay officials and political leaders.

A month later, 20 prisoners bolted the provincial jail. A jail guard, Rodolfo Gonzales, 48, was stabbed dead during the jailbreak.

During the recent elections, elements of Task Force Halalan arrested during an encounter six of the escapees whom local politicians had employed as goons.