Sandra Cam, charged in pol’s slay, surrenders

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) board member Sandra Cam surrendered to the police on Wednesday night after a Manila court issued warrants of arrest against her and six others for the murder of a Masbate vice mayor, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) said yesterday.

“She voluntarily surrendered because her security escort called the CIDG unit nearest her location,” CIDG director Maj. Gen. Albert Ignatius Ferro said in a phone interview.

Police officers served a copy of the arrest warrant to Cam. Ferro did not disclose the hospital where Cam is confined.

Cam, in a statement posted on her Facebook page, said she has been staying in a hospital in Cavite for the past two weeks due to diabetes and a kidney ailment.

Ferro said police officers are keeping a close watch on Cam while she is recuperating in the hospital. Depending on Cam’s condition, she will be brought to Camp Crame or another custodial area, he added.

Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 42 Judge Dinnah Aguila-Topacio found probable cause to order the arrest of Cam, her son Marco Martin and alleged gunmen Nelson Cambaya, Junel Gomez, Bradford Solis, Juanito de Luna and Rigo de la Cruz on charges of murder and frustrated murder.

Cam is accused of masterminding the murder of then Batuan town vice mayor Charlie Yuson III, whose family was the PCSO official’s political opponent in the 2019 elections.

Yuson was shot dead in Sampaloc, Manila on Oct. 10, 2019. His companion, Alberto Alforte IV, was wounded in the shooting.

Cam insisted she is innocent of the charges leveled against her and vowed to clear her name in court.

The PCSO official said she never went into hiding, adding she has only been staying at the hospital. Cam said she is set to undergo an operation on her spine.