‘Mastermind big person in Pangasinan’:Two charged for town mayor’s ambush-slay
>> Sunday, June 22, 2014
SAN CARLOS CITY, Pangasinan –
Authorities Monday filed three counts of murder and attempted murder charges
against the two arrested suspects in the killing of Urbiztondo Mayor Ernesto
Balolong Jr. and two others.
Charged before the
provincial prosecutor’s office here were Eduardo de Guzman alias Gading, 65,
and Marito Sarmiento, 38, both of Bugallon town, said Chief Insp. Ryan
Manongdo, spokesman for the Pangasinan police.
The case for attempted
murder was based on the statement of one of the victims.
Other cases would be
filed later, based on the testimony of other survivors, Manongdo added.
Gading and Sarmiento
were arrested hours after the killing in Barangay Salomague Sur in Bugallon town.
Senior Supt. Sterling
Blanco, Pangasinan police director, said the police team reached the suspects’
hideout just in time before they were about to leave and probably go on hiding.
“The manhunt and
follow-up operation was based on the description of the suspects gathered from
the victims and witnesses, including the previous information on their
identification and escape direction,” Blanco said.
Chief Supt. Roman
Felix, Police Regional Office 1 director, visited Monday families of Balolong
and the other fatalities – Police Officer 1 Eliseo Ulanday, 31, and Edmund
Meneses – and, together with Blanco and “Task Force Balolong” head, Senior
Supt. Benjamin Hulipas, vowed to capture next the mastermind in the
assassination of the mayor.
A relative of Balolong
said his family knows who the late mayor was at grave odds with.
“Malaking tao sa probinsiya
at lalabas din ang lahat kung sino ang may kagagawan nito… alam naming matagal nang
kaawa yito at nagbabanta (This is an influential person in the province and it
will all be revealed… we know of the grudge and the threats.),” he said.
Hulipas said they have
already recovered what they believe was the getaway vehicle, a Toyota Innova
with Plate No. YB-6600, in Barangay Caoayan Kiling in San Carlos City, Pangasinan.
Investigators have
also requested the assistance of the Manila North Tollways Corp. to retrieve
the CCTV footage at the Dau Exit of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) and the
help of the PNP Crime Laboratory.
The National Bureau of
Investigation (NBI) is conducting a parallel investigation.
Interior and Local
Government Secretary Mar Roxas condemned the killing of Balolong, who was shot
at 9:15 a.m. June 7 while inspecting the venue of his son’s wedding.
He succumbed to 27
bullet wounds.
“Such acts must be
stopped, and stopped now,” Roxas said as he ordered the PNP to get to the
bottom of the case.
Vice President Jejomar
Binay, who visited Balolong’s wake June 8, condemned the mayor’s killing and
that of his security aide, PO1 Ulanday,
and a bystander named Edmund Meneses.
Binay was in town for
his scheduled market tours in San Fabian and Mangaldan.
He said he heard about
the incident and decided to drop by to express his condolences to the family,
who sought his help for justice.
He described Balolong,
a member of the Liberal Party, as a good mayor whose death was a huge loss to
the government.
Meanwhile, the
provincial board of Pangasinan dismissed the four pending administrative cases
filed against Balolong for being moot and academic.
In a separate
resolution, the provincial board expressed their condolences and sympathy to
the family.
Interior Secretary
Roxas ordered police to immediately solve the crime.
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