Catanduanes Forum

4 CAFGU rob-slay suspects charged: No cover-up, Army vows
February 18,2009

There will be no cover-up of what the Philippine Army has described as a "barbaric" crime, referring to the involvement of four CAFGU members in the bloody robbery-holdup Feb. 12 in Boton, San Miguel in which two persons were killed and one was critically injured.

Col. Leo Cirunay, commanding officer of the 22nd Infantry Battalion of the 9th Infantry Division, told local media on Saturday afternoon that he will personally follow up the developments in the sensational case and see that the guilty would land in Muntinglupa. He said that 1Lt. Jay Remotigue, who was relieved of his post as commanding officer of the Army camp in Katipunan, San Miguel where the CAFGU detachment was based, would stay on at Camp Francisco Camacho to help build up the case against the accused.

The four - alleged gunman and rebel returnee Gilbert Lucero Ebo, 29, of Obi, Caramoran; Janedy Agulto y Brequillo, 22, of Sta. Elena, Virac; Ricky Cantalejo de Mesa, 20, of Belmonte, San Andres; and, Vir Ian Ganje Lunas, 21, of Puerto Princesa City, Palawan – are now in custody of the Army but temporarily held at the 510th Police Mobile Group headquarters at Camp Camacho. Last Friday morning, they were brought to the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office for the requires inquest proceedings while two of the survivors, the police and other witnesses signed complaints for robbery with multiple homicide and multiple frustrated homicide.

"He committed a personal crime, so he has to answer for it," Col. Cirunay said, lamenting that the good name of the entire CAFGU organization as well as that of the Army has been dragged in the mud in the wake of the incident.

He reminded that it was the CAFGU detachment, just about 500 meters away, which responded first to the scene and it was the CAFGU who arrested the secured the four accused before the police arrived. Cirunay is also considering a move to have the four accused undergo drug tests to check if they were under the influence of prohibited drugs when they allegedly committed the crime.

Appealing for the understanding of the public, especially of the people of San Miguel, the Army officer stressed that the Army does not tolerate nor coddle undesirables in the Armed Forces. "We are not hiding anything and we will leave the fate of the accused to the court," he stated, adding that any scalawag in the organization will be treated accordingly provided the people help the Army in pinpointing abusive members of the CAFGU and the Army so they would be removed forthwith.

Cirunay said the Army will terminate the services of the four accused who are being detained by the Army pursuant to Article of War 105, which provides for the detention of erring soldiers and militiamen for up to 60 days until the Court issues a warrant of arrest. "Ebo will not go scot-free," he vowed, as he asked the survivors and families of the slain victims to help prosecute the accused.

On the reported plan of the Boton barangay council to ask for the removal of the Katipunan CAFGU detachment, he said the people should only ask for the dismissal of abusive CAFGUs and spare the good ones from being unjustly punished.

After the press conference at the PNP headquarters, Col. Cirunay, accompanied by 1Lt. Sarte and 1Lt. Remotigue visited Salve Olapani, one of the survivors, who is still recuperating from her horrific wounds. The Army officer gave financial assistance to the victim’s family and assured them that Ebo will get his due from the legal system. He likewise ordered the deployment of guards at the surgical ward after the Olapanis said that three unidentified persons who introduced themselves as "mga kasama sa pananampalataya" tried to talk to the victim at 10 P.M. the night before.

Ebo a rebel returnee gone bad

Army officers said that Ebo was the vice commander of Komite Seksyon Sa Iskwad (KSSI) II under Herminio Zuniega (July/Ka Roldan/Wendel) operating in San Andres, Virac and parts of Caramoran when he surrendered himself to the police at Camp Camacho two years ago through an intermediary and was taken in for safekeeping. During tactical interrogation, Ebo reportedly admitted having been trained by the NPA in Marawi City and claimed he was the one who fired an M203 grenade at the DILG central office at Francisco Gold Condominium along EDSA in 2005 before ending six years with the rebel group in 2007.

He was eventually used as an asset by the 65th Infantry Battalion in its Internal Security Operations and the wealth of information he possessed as a former finance officer led to the confiscation of eight firearms from the New People’s Army and the surrender of several guerillas.

His accomplishments led the Army to admit him for CAFGU training and soon recommended him for commissioning as an Army regular, except that a check of his NBI records showed he still has a pending murder charge before a Laguna court.

"We have him all the chances to renew his life," Col. Cirunay said, "pero ugaling NPA pa rin." 1Lt. Sarte agrees, saying that it is difficult to get along with rebel returnees as most of them turn out to be very demanding, perhaps due to their tendency to demand or extort food and money from the people.

How it all began

According to accounts of the events leading to and during the robbery-holdup pieced from recollections of the survivors, the suspects’ Army handlers and the police, Ebo started his journey to infamy at about 10 P.M. of Feb. 11 when he woke up four of his CAFGU companions, including one whom he roused from sleep by pouring water on the face of the unsuspecting volunteer.

1Lt. Remotigue told the Tribune that at the time, Ebo was already allowed to carry an Armalite rifle but only inside the Katipunan camp, although some say the CAFGU has been seen carrying the gun at a checkpoint in San Andres. The rebel returnee allegedly slid the rifle inside the back of his T-shirt to keep it from being seen by the guards as he and the four others slipped out a back gate of the Katipunan camp.

They proceeded to drink liquor at an unspecified place before proceeding to the Sogod Boton videoke bar just past midnight. Waiter Dante Bola recalled that at first Ebo, who was now brandishing the M-16, came in along with two others and were followed later by two more companions. He told the Tribune that he was sure they were all CAFGUs, as he himself was a former CAFGU volunteer at the same unit, and that all that time, Ebo was the one in charge.

He gave them beer and the group requested the presence of Guest Relations Officers at their table inside a makeshift hut. Bola said it was already 2:30 A.M. of Feb. 12 when Ebo demanded that they be allowed to take the girls out of the establishment but his request was denied.

"Sino ang manager dito? Palabasin niyo at babarilin ko!" the rebel returnee allegedly shouted, as he fired one shot into the air. The waiter and several GROs also said Ebo harassed one customer and then poked the gun at GRO Lorena Matienzo, before departing as one group at 3:30 P.M. but not before damaging the motorcycle of one customer and leaving behind P1,650 in unpaid chits..

1Lt. Remotigue, however, maintains that only four left the videoke bar as the fifth man managed to escape when he urinated at the back portion of the establishment. Bola and his manager, former AVSECOM policeman Nestor Bernal, said nobody from the San Miguel police responded when they reported the trouble at 3:30 A.M.

Little is known about what happened during the 30-minute interval from the time Ebo and the three CAFGUs left the videoke until they flagged down the jeepney of Perfecto Mendoza, 39, at 4 A.M. at an isolated stretch of the national road at the boundary of barangays Boton and Katipunan.

Victims just trying to earn a living

Tessie Potazo, 52, had been Mendoza’s passenger ever since she started selling fruits and vegetables at the Virac public market. "We boarded early so we would have seats as the jeepney usually picked up commuters along the way to Buhi and then to Virac," she said, referring to fellow Virac vendor Salvacion Tatel, 58. Already in the jeepney were Igmedio Teves, 78, father of DAR provincial officer and FICELCO director Alexander Teves, and the former’s common-law wife, Salve Olapani, 33.

As it negotiated the national road in the dark, the jeepney was flagged down by the armed Ebo and his companions, two of whom wore bonnets hiding their faces. At first, Tessie narrated, they thought they had already reached the checkpoint at Katipunan. The militiamen asked them if they were military and when they said no, Ebo ordered them to alight from the vehicle and to lie prone on the grassy side of the road.

One CAFGU was ordered by Ebo to puncture the front tires of the jeepney using an Army knife. Mendoza hesitated in complying with the order but he was soon shouted at by Ebo. Olapanii kept asking for mercy and was told to shut up while Teves pleaded for his life as Ebo pointed the M-16 at him, with the latter relenting only when told by the old man that he had a nephew in the NPA.

At this time, a sports motorcycle bound for Viga was passing by and was immediately flagged down by the CAFGUs. The driver was made to go on his way after assuring the group that he was neither military nor NPA. According to reports, the frightened bike driver informed a passenger jeepney operator of what he saw and that he heard a gunshot just a few moments after he was sent away. The motorcycle driver has yet to be traced by the police.

Tessie said that after the passing driver left, they were told to hand in their valuables. She gave her cellphone and P300 cash, holding on to her bag that contained more money, as the other also complied. She added that soon after Ebo shot Mendoza in the head, with one of his companions holding down the driver’s head.

Potazo’s bag was also taken by the suspects, who then told them to line up at the foot of a huge pili tree at the side of the road, remove their clothes and jump down the steep, nearly vertical embankment, below which Bato river churned.

Instead of jumping, they slid down the incline and along the way, heard the thump of Mendoza’s body as it hit the ground somewhere beside them. Potazo landed in the water along with Teves and both frantically swam for their lives, with the vendor using her rubber slippers to paddle her way to a rock she saw at the nearby bank. She hauled herself out of the water and then huddled for safety beside a boulder until the completely naked Teves saw her and asked her to come with him as the suspects were still in the area.

They negotiated the water and rocky bank, with the old man eventually going ahead until they reached Boton proper after 30 minutes. Poblacion residents later saw Teves, with both his hands covering his privates, walking towards the police station. Potazo, meanwhile, sought refuge in the first house she saw, asked for some clothes and then was brought to the police after recounting her ordeal.

Responding policemen and CAFGU volunteers later found Mendoza’s body on the other side of the river along with that of Tatel, whose head was still bleeding and whom police believed drowned while trying to flee. Olapani was found half-naked and barely alive, her head marred with contusions and lacerations and breast bearing the imprint of a rifle butt.

At first, 1Lt. Mike Sarte of the 92nd Reconnaissance Company based at Camp Camacho could not believe that CAFGUs were involved, telling the Tribune that the militiamen are only allowed to carry Garand rifles of carbines. He said it was improbable that the suspects would commit so brazen a crime just a few hundred meters away from their camp, even saying that the detachment commander mustered the CAFGUs upon learning of the incident and found all accounted for.

Army.CAFGU made the arrests

Like Sarte, 1Lt. Jay Remotigue doubted whether CAFGUs were involved but when he learned that an Armalite rifle was used, he ordered the Army soldiers and CAFGUs in the Katipunan camp to turn in their weapons ostensible to check serial numbers. This was at 7 P.M., and he soon found one M-16 with one part still wet from being dunked in water; it was Ebo’s rifle.

The Army officer asked Ebo if he had something to do with the robbery-holdup but each time the rebel returnee reportedly answered that he did not go out of the camp. It was only when Remotigue told him that he would be helped to escape when Ebo admitted his participation.

"Napagtripan ko, sir," the former NPA rebel allegedly said as the officer assured him he will get a civilian vehicle to transport him out of the island. Instead, Remotigue called up Catanduanes PNP provincial director Francisco B. Peñaflor, Jr. and asked for assistance. He told Ebo to stay in his quarters, posted guards at the door and ordered perimeter security to be tightened.

When the police arrived, 1Lt. Remotigue finally returned to the hut and handcuffed Ebo. A search of Ebo’s belongings conducted by the police found soaking wet peso bills totaling P3,990.00 in his wallet and two cellphones. His companions were reportedly one in saying that it was Ebo who forced them to go with him and to stage the crime, with one co-accused saying that his hands were shaking badly has he was ordered to repeatedly stab one of the victims.

By this time, the fifth man was already gone, having secured a pass to get out of Katipunan for far that Ebo would get back at him. Remotigue assured Col. Cirunay that the volunteer could be called back, especially since he would be a vital witness in the investigation and prosecution of the four suspects.

Changes sought in CAFGU recruitment process

The controversy and the rut in which the Army and the CAFGU has found themselves in after making considerable effort to win back the hearts and minds of the people in rebel-influenced barangays has forced the command to admit mistakes in the recruitment process for militiamen.

1Lt. Mike Sarte recommends the stricter screening of CAFGU applicants, including the administration of a series of tests before they are allowed to handle firearms. Rebel returnees should be handled by a trained, experienced soldier, he said, disclosing that the Army in Catanduanes still has seven of them in its wing.

He noted that when the 65th IB began recruiting militiamen applicants, all the Army required of them were barangay clearances, with the applicants not even passing evaluation of the barangay chairman. Sarte suggested that the CAFGU recruits secure certifications from the barangay captain, the local police and the municipal mayor.

The officer likewise pushed for smaller classes of 20 to 30 each, compared to the 80 to 100 per class in training at the DepEd division office two years ago. CAFGU detachment handlers is also a problem, he said, noting that whereas before there was a squad of Army soldiers for every CAFGU detachment, there is only one soldier for each detachment.

2010 target to eliminate insurgency still on

Despite the setback, Col. Leo Cirunay is still supremely confident that the 9th Infantry Division would achieve its goal of clearing insurgents from Catanduanes in 2010, claiming that the NPA is now considerably weak.

"We will add more CAFGUs," he bared, wishing that local governments and CAFGU detachments would have a good relationship. He said that uniforms for the militiamen are on their way, to remove the common sight of CAFGUs in civilian clothes.

He said the Army unit here would be conducting SOT programs in all schools of Catanduanes to raise the students’ awareness of the NPA’s recruitment of minors and the evils of communism, illegal drugs and fraternities. Hotlines would also be created in each barangay to allow easy communication of any development, including rebel sightings.

1Lt. Sarte revealed that the Army has two companies in Catanduanes – the 92nd Reconnaissance Company at Camp Camacho and the 22nd IB Echo Company at Katipunan – while there are two regular CAFGU Active Auxiliary companies. A newly activated 49th Infantry Battalion would be deployed within this year as reinforcement to the existing units here.

A Special CAA has been deployed in Obi, Caramoran and in Solong, San Miguel to secure the mini-hydroelectric power plant projects of Sunwest Water & Electricity Co., which foots the payroll and other expenses of the militiamen.

The Obi detachment came under fire recently for abuses by Army Sgt. Ibañez, who is in danger of forfeiting his benefits in 27 years of service after Col. Cirunay recommended his dishonorabke discharge. The other involved CAFGU volunteers have been sacked, it was said.

Cirunay reminded that, aside from the notoriety brought by Ebo, the Army is proud to have CAFGU volunteer Eddie Vil Dejucos who has been recommended for a national award.

During the press conference, it was alleged that last week, NPA rebels had confiscated the relief goods earlier distributed by Gov. Joseph Cua and the PDCC during a recent relief mission in San Vicente and Sagrada, both in Bagamanoc. The Army also claimed that the communist guerillas took computers donated by the Japanese government.