Alcoy kagawad charged with murder

CEBU, Philippines - A murder complaint has been filed at the Cebu Provincial Prosecutor’s Office against the barangay councilman of Poblacion, Alcoy who allegedly shot dead the police chief of the town.

Ciriaco Romarate delos Santos was brought to the Prosecutor’s Office at 10 a.m. yesterday by the Alcoy police for an inquest proceeding on the cases he is facing for allegedly shooting Inspector Crisanto Abella, 44 of barangay Guadalupe Cebu City, who was assigned as chief of the Alcoy Police Station.

De los Santos was a former policeman who was reportedly dismissed from service in 1991 after he went absent without official leave.

During the proceeding of the murder complaint, delos Santos, assisted by his legal counsel, manifested before state prosecutor Ethel Miel that he will file a counter-affidavit within seven days to answer the allegations filed against him.

Miel told the media that from yesterday, she has 15 days to resolve the complaint.

Police said they were able to arrest de los Santos inside his house, a few meters away from the crime scene where they recovered a .45 caliber pistol allegedly used in killing Abella and the 9mm pistol owned by victim.

Abella was reportedly with his personnel at the covered court where a boxing match was being held for police visibility. Based on the report, the event was part of the advance festivities for the town’s fiesta.

While in the area, PO2 Wilt Harris Almagro said he saw Abella and de los Santos talking together with another man.

De los Santos was reportedly under the influence of liquor.

Almagro said that delos Santos then shot the victim.

Florencia Abella, 67, mother of the victim said she will fight for her son’s justice. “I can’t forgive. I want justice for my son,” she said in Cebuano, adding that before the incident, her son asked her help because he had a problem.

“I don’t know that this is it (the death) he mentioned,” she lamented. The slain police was the third child of Florencia.

Meanwhile, the Cebu Provincial Police Office donated P50,000 to the bereaved family of Abella yesterday afternoon in Barangay Guadalupe, Cebu City where Abella’s remains lie.

Senior Superintendent Noel Gillamac, CPPO director, said that the cash came from the police chiefs’ and Cebu provincial personnels’ personal pockets.

“This is our personal contribution to the family of Abella… wa pa ni labot sa iyang benefits,” Gillamac told The FREEMAN.

In a separate interview, PNP Crime Laboratory-7 medico legal officer, Chief Inspector Benjamin Lara, said that Abella succumbed to four gunshot wounds.

Abella’s gunshot wounds were in the head, two in the back that slightly hit his lungs and liver, and another in the right leg.  (FREEMAN)