‘Cops killed fiscal over grudge’

MANILA, Philippines — Three police officers and their accomplices allegedly ambushed Quezon City deputy prosecutor Rogelio Velasco over a personal grudge involving a brother of one of the suspects, according to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

This emerged in the murder complaint filed by the NBI before the city prosecutor’s office, which heard both parties last Monday, according to an NBI source.

NBI investigation showed that prior to the killing, Police Officer 1 Jose Mercado had a shouting match with Velasco over the policeman’s brother, who was charged with illegal possession of firearms and illegal drugs.

“Goddamit, alam mo na pulis ka! Bakit pinababayaan mo ang kapatid mo na magdrugs (you know you are a police officer. Why did you allow your brother to use drugs)?” Velasco supposedly told Mercado before throwing a piece of paper at him in a meeting last May 10, or a day before the killing.

“Thereafter, victim and Mercado were witnessed to have shouted at each other at the men’s comfort room wherein the latter stepped out with an unreadable facial expression and exited the building while Lucy followed after,” read the complaint signed by NBI investigative service deputy director Vicente de Guzman III, a copy of which was obtained by The STAR.

The complaint said the suspects used their vehicle to block Velasco’s path in front of Ababu Persian Kitchen in Barangay Holy Spirit and shot at the victim, who died from multiple gunshot wounds.

The NBI submitted a copy of the closed-circuit television footage that showed the suspects – Mercado, Senior Police Officer 2 Rodante Lamimarmo, Police Officer 3 Arthur Lucy and eight still unidentified individuals – monitoring the movement of the prosecutor all the way from the city hall to Barangay Holy Spirit, where he was ambushed while he was in a Toyota Innova with his daughter.

Lamimarmo asked the prosecutor to change the venue of the hearings to the Department of Justice, according to the NBI source.

Lamimarmo is assigned to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Camp Crame, Lucy with the Quezon City Police District Station 6 and Mercado at the Police Regional Office 4.

The NBI is still conducting its investigation into the identities of the seven still unidentified men and a woman.