"Hindi ka na naawa sa mga anak ko (You didn’t have any pity for my children)."
Thus muttered Leony Manalo when she came face to face with Michael Garcia, the alleged triggerman in the Aug. 5 killing of her husband, Batangas journalist Arnnel Manalo, at Camp Crame yesterday.
Garcia, positively identified by Manalo’s brother Apollo as the gunman, was arrested in Baclaran, Parañaque City last Thursday afternoon.
"Siya po ang pumatay sa kapatid ko (He’s the one who killed my brother)," said Apollo who was with Arnnel when he was shot dead in Bauan, Batangas.
Philippine National Police chief Director General Edgar Aglipay said his men are now tracking down the alleged mastermind, Edilberto Mendoza, head of the Bauan barangay chairmen’s group.
"For the first time, we have solved the murder of a journalist, arrested the gunman and identified the mastermind," he said.
Two witnesses who tagged Mendoza as the slay brains, are now in police custody.
Mendoza has been hiding after rape and murder charges were filed against him late last year.
Garcia, Mendoza’s nephew, yielded a caliber .357 revolver when he was arrested in Baclaran. Murder charges were filed against him and his uncle in the Batangas City prosecutor’s office last Aug. 18.
In a statement, President Arroyo said the PNP "did not fail (me)" when she ordered it to "neutralize the killers" of journalists. — With Arnell Ozaeta