Fr. Rigonan laid to rest: P150, 000 reward offered for info on slay of priest

BY JUN GUIANG AND MAR T. SUPNAD

LAOAG CITY – Ilocos Norte Gov. Michael Keon, Pinili Mayor Anunciacion Pagdilao, and Ilocos Region police director Chief Supt. Leopoldo Bataoil have put a reward of P150,000 for the arrest of the suspects in the murder of parish priest Florante Rigonan.

“We are offering a P150,000 reward for anyone who can provide information that can lead to the identification and arrest of the killers,” Bataoil said in San Fernando, La Union on Sept. 5 during a program marking the celebration of “crime prevention week.”

Rigonan was laid rest at the Catholic cemetery in Barangay Uno in Laoag on Sept. 6. Rigonan, 47, parish priest of San Isidro Labrador in Pinili, Ilocos Norte was murdered by a suspected hired killer in that town last August 28.

Thousands of mourners, some carrying placards and streamers stating “justice for Fr. Florante,” joined the funeral march from the St. William Cathedral to the cemetery. Archbishop Edmundo Abaya of Nueva Segovia and Laoag Bishop Sergio Utleg said a special mass for Rigonan at the Cathedral where a wake was held overnight.

Earlier, Bishop Utleg issued a pastoral letter condemning the slaying of the priest. Utleg, a cycling enthusiast, led on Sept. 8 a “bike for justice” from Laaog City to Pinili, to dramatize the demand for the fast solution of the Rigonan case.

In San Fernando, Bataoil said five suspects had been invited for questioning and subjected to paraffin test. But the five suspects were found negative of gun-powder burns as shown by the result of laboratory test, said Sr. Supt. Marvin Bolabola, chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group office in Ilocos.

“They were negative of gun powder burns but they (suspects) are not free yet because we’re still in the process of determining some pieces of evidence that may link them to the crime,” Bolabola said. Policemen invited on Sept. 5 SPO1 Darwin Macalma and four of his relatives, Roger, George, Lyndia, and Liwliwa, all surnamed Macalma, for questioning.

They were also subjected to paraffin tests at the crime laboratory in Camp Juan in Laoag. Bataoil said investors are looking into personal motive such as envy, noting that spouses Florencio and Elisea Macalma, both balikbayan retirees, donated $100,000 (roughly P5-million) to Father Rigonan for the construction of a chapel in Barangay Balbuena, Pinili, Ilocos Norte.

Bataoil earlier formed a task force to go after the assailants but to date, no leads have been unearthed, police said.

Rigonan was gunned down night of Aug. 28 after he officiated a memorial mass in a remote village. Investigation showed Rigonan was about to board his Toyota Hi-Ace after saying mass for the late mother of balikbayan Florencio Macalma when he was attacked in Barangay Puritac at around 10 p.m. Supt. Roman Felix police director of Ilocos Norte said Rigonan was the parish priest in Barangay Valbuena, Pinili, and resident of Barangay Aglipay, Batac.

Felix said the victim was waylaid by the assailants who peppered him with bullets fired from an M16 armalite rifle. He died on the spot. Bataoil said the victim was about to board his Toyota Hi-ace van with plate No., USF 307 near the house of a friend when the armed men appeared from behind and shot him several times.

The victim had just come from the house of his friend, identified as Florencio Macalma of Barangay Puritac, where he had dinner with some parishioners. The police found 10 shells of M16 armalite bullets at the scene of the ambush. Nobody reportedly attended to the fallen priest as local folk scampered to safety upon hearing the gunfire.

Following this, Bataoil directed policemen to hunt down the killers. He assured the Catholic Bishop Conference of the Philippines that he will leave no stone unturned in the investigation of the case. It was Bishop Utleg himself who attended to the priest. Utleg rushed to the scene from Laoag City upon learning of the attack.

“He was bloodied and mud-soaked,” the bishop told reporters. Investigators were still gathering clues as to the possible motive. But a helper of Rigonan told radio station dzEA that the priest intimated to him that certain relatives of Macalma and his wife allegedly got jealous because the balikbayan couple had donated large sums of money for the newly constructed parish church.

Police were reportedly set to investigate Macalma’s relatives.

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz said Rigonan’s killing “needs a thorough investigation.” According to information he had gathered, Cruz said Rigonan was not an activist and had no known enemies.