Brains, gunman identified

CAMP DIEGO SILANG, La Union — The task force probing the Jan. 12 murder of the election registrar of Bauang, La Union has identified his gunman and the one who masterminded the killing.

Senior Superintendent Samuel Diciano, outgoing La Union police director, however, withheld the identities of the gunman and his companion and the mastermind behind the gunslaying of Felimon Asperin pending the filing of formal charges against them.

Diciano said Task Force Asperin also recovered the motorcycle used by the gunman and his cohort.

"There are witnesses who surfaced and positively identified the suspects through the artist’s sketches. We even have the name of the alleged mastermind," he said.

Superintendent Pedro Ubaldo Jr., Bauang police chief, announced on local radio that the suspects’ identification is a major breakthrough in their investigation.

"This is a major development in the case. Witnesses have come out to (give) more revelations that led us in tracking down the gunman and the possible arrest of the mastermind," he said.

"There is a very strong possibility that the mastermind and the gunman are from La Union, but it is hard to speculate since the investigation is still ongoing," he said.

Ubaldo said politics is still the strongest motive behind Asperin’s murder, although he said they are not discounting the possibility that it might have something to do with his private life.

Asperin’s burial is scheduled on Saturday at the public cemetery in Agoo town.