2 of 5 suspects in bishop’s slay known — police

ANGELES CITY — Police said two of five suspects in Tuesday’s killing of 69-year-old Aglipayan Bishop Alberto Ramento are known, having been identified by witnesses as the same people behind twin burglaries in the Aglipayan church in Tarlac City last month.

Chief Superintendent Ismael Rafanan, Central Luzon police director, however, declined to reveal the identities of the two suspects so as not to preempt their arrest.

Rafanan said they belong to a criminal group believed responsible for robberies and thefts in Tarlac City.

Senior Superintendent Nicanor Bartolome, Tarlac police director, said that while the rest of the suspects reportedly plotted the robbery, the two were the ones who carried it out.

Ramento, chairman of the supreme council of the Iglesia Filipinas Independiente and Tarlac chairman of the human rights group Karapatan, was found dead with multiple stab wounds inside his room at the Aglipayan Cathedral in Tarlac City last Tuesday morning.

Police insisted that it was a mere case of robbery with homicide, contrary to what militant groups claimed that it could be another political killing since Ramento was an active human rights activist.

But Rafanan said Aglipayan officials have tagged the same suspects as those caught stealing from the church last Sept. 11 and 13.

He said the first incident was not reported to the police, while the second was merely reported to the barangay.

Rafanan quoted an Aglipayan official as saying, "This is too much. This time, we are decided on helping in any way we can to put the suspects behind bars and serve justice to our bishop."

Initial findings of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) supported the robbery angle.

In a two-page report to NBI deputy director for regional operations Reynaldo Esmeralda, Marvin de Jamil, NBI-Tarlac supervising agent, also mentioned the two previous burglaries.

In the first burglary, De Jamil said Ramento was not around and the robbers carted away a DVD player and 200,000 yen.

In the second incident, he said the burglars took the bishop’s new DVD player, mobile phone and wallet but left him unharmed.

Rafanan said Ramento’s room was in "total disarray" when his body was found last Tuesday morning.

He said the bishop’s wallet was empty, adding that Aglipayan officials have yet to determine what exactly had been stolen.

Bartolome earlier said the robbers might have been after the collections of the church.

Police recovered a six-inch long bloodstained kitchen knife believed used in the killing in the church compound.

The National Council of Churches of the Philippines (NCCP), however, called for a thorough investigation, saying, "There must be more to robbery and homicide considering his status as a bishop."

"He was a fine example of a gentle pastor and a fiery prophet. He knew that his consistent voice against systematic violence of the state would one day cost him dear," the NCCP said in a statement.

The Citizens Congress for Truth and Accountability, chaired by former Vice President Teofisto Guingona, urged the Commission on Human Rights to investigate Ramento’s killing, saying he might have earned the ire of the police and the military because of his "active human rights advocacy."

Ramento’s remains lie in state at the Aglipayan Cathedral and will later be brought to his birthplace in San Antonio, Cavite. — With Evelyn Macairan, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Ric Sapnu and Katherine Adraneda