Murder charges filed vs Cagayan vice mayor, son

ILAGAN, Isabela — Police filed multiple murder charges yesterday against a vice mayor of a Cagayan town and his policeman-son, along with two John Does, in connection with last week’s ambush-slaying of four civilians here.

Senior Superintendent Nelson Nario, Isabela police director, said the charges were filed against Vice Mayor Loreto Alipio Sr. of Buguey, Cagayan and his son, PO2 Loreto Jr., with the Santa Maria-San Pablo Municipal Circuit Trial Court here.

Father and son were implicated in the killing of siblings Rolando, Nestor and Louie Castillo and one Fidel Susa.

The four victims, along with lone survivor, Rofel Castillo, were on their way to Santiago City, Isabela from Tuguegarao City, Cagayan when the passenger jeepney they were riding in was flagged down by three armed men along an isolated portion of the national highway in Barangay Naganacan, Santa Maria town last Nov. 7.

The three men, armed with M-16 and M-14 Armalite rifles and on board a red Toyota Revo, then opened fire at them, killing the Castillo brothers and Susa on the spot. The victims were all residents of Buguey town.

Although wounded, Rofel was able to drive the jeepney to a police detachment in nearby Enrile town, several kilometers from the ambush site.

He positively identified Loreto Jr., a distant relative of theirs, as one of the three gunmen during a police line-up at the Saint Paul Hospital in Tuguegarao where he was confined due to a bullet wound in the abdomen.

Loreto Jr., assigned with the Headquarters Service Group of the regional police in Tuguegarao, is now under technical arrest.

Rofel’s claim linking Loreto Jr. to the killing was bolstered when police investigators discovered that the gunmen’s red Toyota Revo allegedly belongs to Loreto Sr.