Vice mayor slay suspect nabbed

ORMOC CITY, Philippines – A suspect in the killing of Villaba town (Leyte) Vice Mayor Claudio Martin "Calaw" Larrazabal was arrested while having a drinking spree in the former's hometown of Leyte in Leyte last Sunday.

Operatives of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group arrested 34-year-old Joel Reher Dejon, a resident of Barangay Danus in Leyte, Leyte, an alleged hired killer who was one of three suspects in the murder, including the "contractor," who were still at large.

The names of the three other conspirators have not yet been divulged publicly but they have been included in the murder complaint filed against Dejon, who was known to have served a previous conviction for the killing of a barangay chairman in his hometown.

The arrest of Dejon came after a confidential informant began tailing him, identifying him from sketches of the suspects that were released to the operatives.

Dejon was arrested while having a drinking spree, with a gun tucked to his waist and initially booked for illegal possession of firearms. He was then presented in a police lineup, where three eyewitnesses to Larrazabal's murder picked him out and positively identified him as one of two gunmen.

Dejon confessed to Larrazabal's murder and was the one who gave the names of his co-conspirators, and a source claimed that Dejon had also given the information that the killing was politically motivated.

The slain Larrazabal was a former three-term mayor before he slid for vice-mayor this term, and would have made a comeback come 2016. He was gunned down while taking lunch inside his own restaurant last November 17.

Members of the Larrazabal family, when reached for comment about the arrest of Dejon, however, said they have been advised by the CIDG not to talk about the matter yet to the media.

The late vice-mayor was an uncle of former Commission on Election Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal.