5 charged for Makati engineer's slay in Albay

LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines  – Five persons were charged yesterday for the killing of Makati City engineer Nelson Morales in Barangay Estancia, Malinao, Albay last Friday.

Superintendent Renato Bataller, Bicol police spokesman, identified the suspects as brothers Gilbert and Ramson Concepcion, Roderick Saysay Sarahan, Wilfredo Sasota and a John Doe, all residents of Libon town.

Bataller said frustrated and attempted murder charges were included in the charge sheet because one of the suspects also pointed a gun at the slain engineer’s sister, Malinao Vice Mayor Alice Morales, and one of Morales’s close-in aides, who was wounded.

Bataller said the text messages in the cell phone found in the pocket of Christian Saysay, the alleged killer of Morales, who was pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital in Ligao City after the shooting, helped in identifying the other suspects.

He said it also helped in the arrest on Saturday of Sarahan, who is a cousin of the slain suspect.

Bataller told The STAR investigation showed that five persons brought Saysay to the hospital.

Chief Inspector Robert Capuz, Malinao police chief, said the suspects belong to a notorious syndicate operating in Bicol called the “Concepcion Gang,” and led by a dismissed Army soldier.

Capuz said a manhunt for the suspects has been launched. He said an investigation to determine the identities of people who hired the assassins is also ongoing.

“Circumstances surrounding the killing showed that the victim and the suspects do not personally know one another. Therefore, the suspects are only gun-for-hires,” Capuz said.

He said additional policemen were deployed to Malinao town as a result of the killing. “We are also providing security to the family of Morales,” he added.

Morales was shot while going out of the St. Nicholas chapel in Barangay Estancia, where he was a sponsor to a wedding ceremony.

Officials and employees of the Makati City government will pay tribute to Morales in necrological rites set tonight at the Makati City hall.

Meanwhile, Malinao Mayor Billy Ceriola has asked residents to refrain from spreading rumors and speculationsregarding the motives in the killing of Morales. – With Mike Frialde