B’gay councilman linked to slay of Cebuano student

CEBU CITY — The case of the fraternity-related attack on a student at a restaurant-bar here last July 19 had a new development after one of the suspects, whom a witness had identified, was arrested by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) the other day.

The suspect, Anthony John Apura, 20, is a councilman of Barangay Villadolid in Carcar town. He is known to be a member of the Alpha Kappa Rho (Akrho) fraternity, whose members allegedly attacked 19-year-old Mark James Enriquez.

The Akrho group reportedly mistook Enriquez to be a member of the rival Tau Gamma Phi. He died three days of confinement in a hospital.

The witness reportedly told the CIDG that he was sure that Apura was one of Enriquez’s attackers.

The witness was also the one who named a certain Sherwin Que Cui as a participant in the attack, resulting in the filing of murder charges against him and several John Does. Cui is still at large.

Apura is the first suspect to be arrested by the CIDG. He was detained at the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center the other day, with the CIDG claiming that an arrest warrant was already issued for him.

Apura was initially invited for questioning by Inspector Joie Yape at the CIDG Friday morning, based on the witness’ testimony. He came with his brother and father, Necepuro Apura, president of Carcar’s Association of Barangay Councils.

At the CIDG, they were told to wait. Then by 2 p.m., the witness, whose face was covered, arrived.

When the elder Apura questioned the validity of his son’s arrest, Yape told him they had a warrant. However, the warrant, issued by Regional Trial Court Judge Aproniano Taypin last week, had only Qui’s name on it, plus several John Does, Necepuro said.

Necepuro told The Freeman that they would file a case of arbitrary detention against the CIDG because his son was detained without a valid warrant of arrest, and was only invited for questioning.

The young Apura is a graduating political science student in a university here and a member of Akrho’s Carcar chapter. His family owns a shoe factory in Carcar.

During the interrogation, he admitted to Yape that he was at the restaurant-bar at the time Enriquez was attacked.

But he denied taking part in the attack on Enriquez, saying he was at a separate table and did not even see the incident. He even claimed that he would not be able to identify the people involved in the attack.

Enriquez, a student of the University of San Carlos, was with two friends when he was attacked. The witness said a man approached Enriquez and asked if he was a member of Tau Gamma.

But before Enriquez could answer, the man struck him with an empty bottle on the head. Six others then approached and also hit Enriquez.

Shortly after, Cui allegedly came in and shot Enriquez in the head at close range.

Enriquez’s mother Imelda said she was happy with the arrest and detention of one of the suspects in her son’s killing. "This is just the beginning," she said. — Freeman News Service