‘Get lawyer’s killers dead or alive’

CEBU, Philippines - Police yesterday ordered the arrest of Romarico Benigi-an and Lloyd Lancer Gonzaga, the suspects in the killing of Tagbilaran City-based lawyer Mia Manuelita Mascariñas-Green – whether they be dead or alive.

As this developed, Green’s client, Conrada Gubalani Otero Blomqvist, yesterday appealed to President Duterte to look into the case as she feared for her and her family’s lives.

“President Duterte, please, I beg you,” Blomqvist said in Cebuano. “Why did you not act on this? We wrote to you; we visited PNP chief General Bato dela Rosa, still there was no action. Now, our lives are in danger.”

Blomqvist, 52, said she was the rightful owner of Alona Embrace, a 38-room resort hotel in Panglao town, Bohol which had been, according to her, taken by Gonzaga through a fake deed of sale.

Gonzaga became Blomqvist’s son-in-law after marrying her daughter Monica four years ago.

Blomqvist’s version

Blomqvist said she acquired the property two years ago from her niece who is now living in Sweden.

Before leaving for Europe, she said, her niece executed a special and general power of attorney for the deed of sale which, she said, effectively made her the owner of the property. In fact, she added, Gonzaga’s father was even “a witness” to that sale.

To her surprise, Gonzaga “faked” a deed of sale with his father and wife Monica as witnesses.

She said she had received many death threats in the past for not yielding to the request of Gonzaga to sign the deed.

One instance was when she figured in an ambush attempt early last year.

“Gi-running-in-tandem ko nga iya igsuon nag-drive (sa motor). Naa mi nagsakay sa car unya iya (Gonzaga) ko giingnan, ‘Ma, hupo.’ Ma, uli na Sweden, ma. Pirmahi na ning deed under my name. I told him no!” Blomqvist told reporters.

For Blomqvist, it was Gonzaga’s greed for money that led to the killing.

“Kwarta ang ugat ani.Gusto nilang magkakwarta nga million. Mga more than a hundred million ang involved ani. That is the motive,” she said.

The night before Green was shot, Blomqvist said a mad Gonzaga was calling her through the phone, saying “Yawa ka ma, animal ka ma. Buk-an ko na imong attorney og ulo. Kauban ka, ipakapin ta ka.”

Blomqvist said Gonzaga hatched the killing after it became apparent that the court was about to rule against him on the property’s ownership.

Before the court could decide to this effect, however, Green was shot dead by a motorcycle-boarding gunman at 4:47 p.m. on February 15 while she was driving her Toyota Innova (ABM 9572) with her three children and one helper on the way home. The incident took place on Zamora Street, Dao, Barangay San Isidro in Tagbilaran City.

Manhunt still on

The gunman, police said, had three other companions, one riding on the same motorcycle and the other two on another.

To this day, Gonzaga, alleged hitman Benigi-an  and the two other suspects remain at large.

Two days after the shooting, a search warrant was issued against Benigi-an and Gonzaga. However, when the Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) served the warrants in their places at Purok 7, Barangay Tawala, Panglao, the two were not around.

The search warrants were for violations of Republic Act 10591 or Comprehensive Law on Firearms and Ammunition and Republic Act 9165 or Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act.

Though the SITG operatives were not able to arrest Benigi-an and Gonzaga, they were able to recover from their respective places firearms, ammunition, and transparent plastic sachets of suspected shabu.

Yesterday, Police Regional Office-7 Director Noli Taliño said if they fail to capture the suspects through the hot pursuit, a complaint will be filed against them so that an arrest warrant could be issued.

If the suspects resisted arrest, Taliño said his men will use extra force to neutralize them.

Taliño said his men were looking for the possible hideouts of the suspects, adding that they are not discounting the possibilities that they may have already exited Bohol. According to Blomqvist, Gonzaga is a native of Davao City.

Taliño also said they will  review other killings in Bohol to see if the two were also involved in these cases.

A reward of P600,000 (P100,000 came from certain civilians while P500,000 came from the slain lawyer’s family)  will be given to those who can give information on the whereabouts of the suspects, he said.

Blomqvist, who holds a dual citizenship as a Filipino and a Swedish, has also called on Monica to surrender and turn over her children to the former so she can take them to Sweden.

New lawyer

With Green’s death, Cebu-based law firm Dela Cerna & Associates Law Offices is now the one looking into the three cases filed by Blomqvist against Gonzaga.

The three cases are: one for violation of the firearms law and illegal possession of illegal drugs, another for the request to cancel “falsified” document transferring ownership from Blomqvist to Gonzaga, and another for the request to transfer title and tax declaration for property due to the falsified document.

Lawyer Inocencio dela Cerna said they are also studying Gonzaga’s possible connivance with local officials and police, especially since the latter is considered as a person of interest in the area.

“The police in that area know that person of interest ni siya (Gonzaga) kay magadala-dala og pusil, iyang igsuon magdala og shabu. Daghan pud tang letter to the mayor but wala pud tubaga,” said dela Cerna.

Dela Cerna said that although it was unfortunate for Green to die that way, her death may have also “prevented more deaths perpetrated by this Lloyd Gonzaga.”

“So again, I condemn and I will take it upon my crusade because we are just doing our job under our oath,” he said.

Cry for justice

Green’s family, in a separate statement, said they are hoping justice will soon be served.

“We, Atty. Mia’s family, remain steadfast in our quest for justice, buoyed by our faith that the authorities are doing everything in their power to bring the perpetrators and their accomplices to justice,” the statement read.

According to her family, Green championed environmental, women’s and children’s rights.

They also described her as a woman of character, who was fearless in her convictions.

Despite this, she was a devoted mother who insisted on being present in her children’s important milestones.

“As she was massacred in public, she did not bother to look at her assailants, but instead, she turned to look back and check that her children were okay,” the statement read. — John M. Destacamento, Rowena D. Capistrano and Mylen P. Manto (FREEMAN)