DENR official, ex-vice mayor charged for Ecija mayor's slay

CABANATUAN CITY, Philippines – The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) and one of its support units, the Intelligence Group (IG) of the Philippine National Police, filed before the Department of Justice yesterday murder and frustrated murder charges against a top official of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and a detained former vice mayor tagged as the brains in the Feb. 4 killing of Carranglan town Mayor Restituto Abad.

Charged were Rafael Otic, DENR provincial environment and natural resources officer for Nueva Ecija, and businessman Teodoro Ilagan, former vice mayor of Licab town.

The PAOCC, led by its executive director, Chief Superintendent Reginald Villasanta, and Senior Inspector Jesus Dabu, chief of the investigation and legal affairs section of the National Capital Region-IG, filed the complaint together with Abad’s widow Mary and the late mayor’s supporters and relatives.

Mrs. Abad said she is hopeful justice will prevail in the case of her slain husband, adding that one of the alleged masterminds is a highly influential person in the province, apparently referring to Otic.

“I hope justice is served and the perpetrators are haled to court,” she said.

She expressed satisfaction over the results of the parallel investigation conducted by the IG apart from the one earlier made by the Special Investigation Task Group of the Nueva Ecija police. 

Otic’s brother Jose ran but lost to Abad in the 2010 elections. Another brother, Luvimindo, used to be a long-time mayor of the town.

Ilagan also ran for mayor of Licab but lost to incumbent Mayor Wilfredo Domingo. He is presently detained at the Camp Crame Custodial Center for illegal possession of firearms and explosives.

The two were tagged in the killing of Abad and the wounding of his driver-bodyguard, Army soldier Saldy Duclayan, in an ambush along the provincial road in Barangay Saranay, Guimba town last Feb. 4.

Abad, 54, died five days later while undergoing treatment at the St. Luke’s Medical Center.

Chief Superintendent Charles Calima, IG director, said Gov. Aurelio Umali put up a P1-million reward for the arrest of Abad’s killers. This was on top of the P100,000 put up by Abad’s relatives.

Lawmen arrested one of the suspects, Jose Bernalin Pascual, driver of the motorcycle ridden by the gunman, Jonathan Carpio.

Carpio, 32, was arrested by IG operatives in Novaliches, Quezon City last April 28 while allegedly casing his next target.

Carpio yielded a .45-caliber Armscor pistol used in the killing. He owned up to the crime and tagged Ilagan as the one who hired him to assassinate Abad.

He said Otic and Ilagan allegedly handed him P300,000 six days after the hit job in a mall in Quezon City.

Ilagan surrendered to IG and Regional Mobile Group operatives but not after engaging them in a shootout in his house in Licab town last June 21 that led to the death of his security escort, Lorenzo Bote, a retired police sergeant. Ilagan yielded three pistols and a grenade.