23 September 2005
2 MONTHS AFTER: Slain veem’s wife decries cold trail
MAPANDAN – The family of slain Vice-Mayor Adolfo Aquino has yet to see justice served more than two months after an assassin felled him with bullets.
Aquino’s widow, Eden, lamented that the police has yet to solve the case allegedly for lack of witnesses. “Sabi nila wala raw maglakas loob na magtestigo,” she said.
The National Bureau of Investigation however was able to interview some witnesses, she disclosed. Apparently, the public trusts the NBI much more than the police, she added.
The NBI is now looking for the assassin who is expected to spill the beans on the mastermind once he is caught and investigated.
She said the killer is still alive, this according to her sources, contrary to assumptions he might have been killed already to render the case unsolved like all other political killings in the province.
The suspect, she bared, enjoys the protection of a government official whom he however refused to identify.
Aquino was gunned down by a lone assassin on July 6 at past 6 pm while talking to a friend at the town hall premises. He had just come from the regular session of the sangguniang bayan and was about to go home on board his vehicle when he decided to stop and talk to his friend.
The suspect casually walked towards them and shot Aquino. He walked toward the cemetery after the incident where he lost himself from pursuing policemen.
For failure to respond immediately, the entire town police force including the police chief was sacked and the members ordered to undergo retraining.
PNP Director Arturo Lomibao personally visited Mapandan to assess the situation and formed Task Force Aquino under then provincial deputy director Edgar Basbas who has since been transferred to Dagupan as chief of police.
Supt. Jessie Cardona replaced Basbas as head of the task force No word has come out from Cardona either till now, the slain vice mayor’s wife said.
The police resumed investigation after CPP founder Jose Maria Sison in an interview over local radio disowned a claim that the NPA rebels killed Aquino for his alleged sins against the people. Sison said the rebels work by regions so that it was unlikely that Mindoro-based rebels would operate in a far province like Pangasinan.
A supposed NPA statement last month sent to and read by a radio station that supposedly owned up to the killing seemingly led police to consider the matter closed.
Aquino’s widow said she would not stop working for the solution of the case. She admitted that she and her family continue to receive threats. (DOS/PIA)
Aquino’s widow, Eden, lamented that the police has yet to solve the case allegedly for lack of witnesses. “Sabi nila wala raw maglakas loob na magtestigo,” she said.
The National Bureau of Investigation however was able to interview some witnesses, she disclosed. Apparently, the public trusts the NBI much more than the police, she added.
The NBI is now looking for the assassin who is expected to spill the beans on the mastermind once he is caught and investigated.
She said the killer is still alive, this according to her sources, contrary to assumptions he might have been killed already to render the case unsolved like all other political killings in the province.
The suspect, she bared, enjoys the protection of a government official whom he however refused to identify.
Aquino was gunned down by a lone assassin on July 6 at past 6 pm while talking to a friend at the town hall premises. He had just come from the regular session of the sangguniang bayan and was about to go home on board his vehicle when he decided to stop and talk to his friend.
The suspect casually walked towards them and shot Aquino. He walked toward the cemetery after the incident where he lost himself from pursuing policemen.
For failure to respond immediately, the entire town police force including the police chief was sacked and the members ordered to undergo retraining.
PNP Director Arturo Lomibao personally visited Mapandan to assess the situation and formed Task Force Aquino under then provincial deputy director Edgar Basbas who has since been transferred to Dagupan as chief of police.
Supt. Jessie Cardona replaced Basbas as head of the task force No word has come out from Cardona either till now, the slain vice mayor’s wife said.
The police resumed investigation after CPP founder Jose Maria Sison in an interview over local radio disowned a claim that the NPA rebels killed Aquino for his alleged sins against the people. Sison said the rebels work by regions so that it was unlikely that Mindoro-based rebels would operate in a far province like Pangasinan.
A supposed NPA statement last month sent to and read by a radio station that supposedly owned up to the killing seemingly led police to consider the matter closed.
Aquino’s widow said she would not stop working for the solution of the case. She admitted that she and her family continue to receive threats. (DOS/PIA)
