Councilor, 5 others charged for Ecija vice mayor's killing

CABANATUAN CITY, Philippines – Police have filed murder charges against a municipal councilor and five others for last month’s killing of the vice mayor of Licab, Nueva Ecija.

Senior Superintendent Roberto Aliggayu, provincial police director, identified those charged as Licab councilor Alexander Ventura, Francisco Peralta alias “Supremo Ablak,” Arturo Bernardino Garcia alias “Kumander,” Nestor Soriano Jr., Jeremy Itan, and Virgilio Domingo alias “Beo Sarmiento.”

The six were tagged in the Oct. 9 killing of Vice Mayor Luisito Caraang, who was gunned down by two motorcycle-riding men as he and a couple of friends were jogging in Barangay San Casimiro.

Aliggayu tagged Ventura as the brains behind the killing. He said the five others are members of the disbanded “Alakdan” and “Red Vigilante” groups, which recently formed the so-called “Bravo for Justice Group.”

Superintendent Lilian Castillo, chief of the police community relations branch, said all the suspects are still at large. – With Ric Sapnu