MIAA ambush suspect does an Iggy

The primary suspect in the murder of Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) assistant general manager Lilia Diaz met with police officials yesterday but refused to face the media, invoking his "right to privacy" a la Ignacio "Iggy" Arroyo.

Antonio San Gabriel, an official of the Olongapo Maintenance Services Inc. (OMSI), was invited for questioning by the police after a sister of Diaz alleged that he ordered the ambush.

Police sources said San Gabriel coordinated with Superintendent Ronald Estilles, Parañaque City police chief, and agreed to meet with National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Deputy Director General Reynaldo Velasco on condition that there would be no media coverage.

The meeting took place at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig yesterday morning.

Santiago Kapunan, one of San Gabriel’s four lawyers, said that they are merely protecting their client’s right to privacy. Another lawyer, Rodegelio Panaguiton, said that it was a legal strategy.

Panaguiton said that by concealing the physical appearance of their client from the media, they can test the gunman, once apprehended, if he can identify their client.

"The identity is very crucial to us and we want the gunman to be apprehended. It is a matter of legal strategy," Panaguiton said.

In the meeting with Estilles, San Gabriel was accompanied by five men and used three cars to confuse the media.

Velasco said they kept their promise and did not leak San Gabriel’s visit to reporters. However, upon arrival at Camp Bagong Diwa, San Gabriel did not come out of the car when he saw a parked media vehicle.

Diaz’s sister, Cherry, earlier told authorities that San Gabriel, OMSI vice president and general manager, had an ax to grind against the victim as his company reportedly lost millions of pesos worth of contracts after Diaz discovered the company had been providing "ghost" or non-existent services to MIAA.

MIAA sources said that in one contract alone, OMSI lost about P50 million.

San Gabriel’s lawyers said that they are unaware of the amount and if their client was unable to bag the deal, he must have lost it through public bidding.

In retaliation, San Gabriel filed an extortion case against Diaz and Rolando Hernandez, MIAA general services division manager, in 1996. A Pasay municipal trial court found Diaz and Hernandez guilty of extorting P500,000 and P200,000, respectively from San Gabriel . The two never served time in prison as they appealed the case before a higher court.

Since then, Diaz has allegedly been receiving death threats.

Police sources said they are also looking into the connection of a certain Butch Bautista, who, according to Cherry, had allegedly told Diaz "uubusin ko ang lahi niyo" while they were in an elevator.

Cherry said there was someone else in the elevator and police are now looking for this person to get his or her statement.

When a reporter asked San Gabriel’s lawyers if they knew Bautista, they said he is not an OMSI official but an official of the MIAA.

"We are jumping the gun. There are many stories coming out and not only OMSI," said another lawyer Romano Imperial.

"It is premature to say if any case could be filed against our client," he added.

Velasco admitted there are now a lot of theories floating as to who killed Diaz and the motive behind her murder.

"We now have to implement the process of elimination. These are still all circumstantial evidence and might not hold water in court. We would closely work with the fiscal’s office to ensure that we are conducting a proper investigation and to avoid chances of dismissal due to technicalities," Velasco said.

Meanwhile, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is preparing another cartographic sketch of Diaz’s assassin to start the investigation.

The Parañaque City police earlier released a cartographic sketch of the killer as described by a vendor witness. He was reportedly medium-built, fair-skinned, between 25 and 27 years old and around 5’5" tall.

NBI Director Reynaldo Wycoco said they are also checking reports that Diaz’s assassin looked like the Kuratong Baleleng member who guarded Eugenio Mahusay Jr. in a hotel in Tagaytay City.

"We have to confirm all these things," Wycoco said. "I would coordinate with Mahusay’s lawyer Matias Defensor to arrange a meeting to see if Mahusay could identify the person in the cartographic sketch."

In a related development, 14.28 hectares of idle MIAA lands were distributed yesterday by President Arroyo to informal settlers in Maricaban, First Balabag area, Don Carlos Village and Barrio Filipino Pulo Uno in Pasay City.

The President impressed upon the beneficiaries that Diaz had done much of the paper work that made the distribution of occupancy titles possible. — With Cecille Suerte Felipe, Marichu Villanueva