‘Get mastermind in Bersamin slay’

The family of slain Abra Rep. Luis Bersamin urged the Philippine National Police (PNP) yesterday to get the mastermind in his killing.

Abra Gov. Eustaquio Bersamin, the slain lawmaker’s brother, said they are satisfied with the arrest of the suspects, former La Paz town vice mayor Freddie Dupo and his cousin Sonny Taculao, but “it would be very nice if the mastermind is brought behind the bar of justice.”

“The family is happy that the missing pieces for the filing of charges against the suspects are now accounted for. But these senseless killings in Abra would not stop if the mastermind remains scot-free,” Bersamin told The STAR.

Bersamin claimed they have the mastermind in mind but he refused to be dragged into naming him.

The Abra governor said he has faith in the leadership of PNP chief Director General Avelino Razon Jr. and Cordillera police director Chief Superintendent Eugene Martin to “give justice” to his slain brother.

“I trust the PNP so much. Hopefully, their investigation would unmask the mastermind following the arrest of Dupo and Taculao,” he said.

Dupo and Taculao were presented before the media yesterday by Deputy Director General Reynaldo Varilla, PNP deputy chief for operations; Director Edgardo Doromal, head of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG); and Martin during the Talakayan sa Isyung Pulis (TSIP) in Camp Crame.

“This is only to manifest that the long arms of the law catch up with people involved in nefarious acts. To those who are planning to commit crimes, you can run but you cannot hide,” Varilla said.

Bersamin was joined in the forum by the three daughters of his slain brother, Charrie, Michelle and Dani Anne.

Also present were Nino Embascado and his wife, Pia Bersamin, who were wed at the Mt. Carmel Church in Quezon City last Dec. 16 when Rep. Bersamin, together with his security escort SPO1 Adolfo Ortega, was killed.

Aside from Bersamin’s murder, Varilla claimed Dupo was also involved in the slaying of La Paz Mayor Israel Mark Bernos last January.

Varilla said Dupo and Taculao are presently undergoing tactical interrogation by the CIDG in Camp Crame.

Asked if Dupo and Taculao have named the mastermind in Bersamin’s murder, Varilla said he could not reveal the initial findings of CIDG interrogators “for fear of jeopardizing follow-up operations.”

Martin admitted that his men are in the field to possibly arrest a number of personalities identified by Dupo and Taculao to have had a hand in Rep. Bersamin’s murder.

Earlier, another suspect, Sgt. Rufino Panday, tagged former Abra governor Vicente Valera as the mastermind but retracted his statements later.

Valera has vehemently denied having a hand in Bersamin’s murder.

Doromal, head of Task Force Bersamin, refused to say if Dupo and Taculao mentioned Valera in the course of their tactical interrogation.

“I don’t want to make some pronouncements to that effect,” he said. “We are still waiting for them to tell us the truth with regards to their participation in Bersamin’s murder.”

Gov. Bersamin said he has no ill feelings toward Dupo and Taculao, whom he believes took part in the murder of his brother “not because of personal motivation.”

“I believe they are ordinary people. They don’t have any quarrel with my brother for them to act on their own to kill him,” he said.

He said his anger for his brother’s killers has subsided but “we still wanted to know the truth behind his killing.”

He expressed confidence that with Dupo and Taculao now in police custody, “justice will prevail” soon.

Taculao, 41, was arrested by a combined team of the Cordillera and Rizal police headed by Superintendent Jess Cambay in a hut in the mountains of Pinugay at the boundary of Antipolo City and Baras, Rizal last Saturday.

Dupo managed to escape. However, he was arrested a day later at a creek in Lower Kilingan in Pinugay after he made a grave mistake of returning to their safehouse.