2 accused in Ilocos slay released

TUGUEGARAO CITY, Philippines  – The court ordered last Monday the release of two men who has been detained since 2010 for the killing of Ilocos Norte Electric Cooperative president Lorenzo Rey Ruiz in 2009.

Regional Trial Court Batac City Judge Isidro Pobre made the move after another accused, Noel Aurellano, owned up to the slay and absolved fellow accused Victor Cahudoy and Saturnino Pagaling.

Ruiz’s son Enrico, a director of the electric cooperative, accepted the judge’s ruling citing both Pagaling and Cahudoy as “victims of circumstance.”

Former mayor Marianeth Gamboa of Dingras, Ilocos Norte was tagged in the killing.