Ex-mayor slay suspect seeks early arraignment, transfer to NBI Cebu

The accused in the murder of former Santa Fe mayor Rogelio Illustrisimo is seeking for his immediate arraignment and for his transfer from the National Bureau of Investigation office in Manila to NBI office in Cebu.

Former police officer Arnulfo Pigon Jr., through his lawyer Normal Torribio, filed a motion setting of his arraignment in the first week of January. Pigon likewise asked that he be placed under the custody of the Cebu office of the NBI while the trial of his case is ongoing for security reason.

Pigon said he is wary of his security if he will be detained at the Cebu City Jail. He is currently under the custody of the NBI-Manila, where he voluntarily surrendered for safekeeping even before the case was filed against him.

Pigon denied any involvement in the killing of Illustrisimo, but several witnesses pointed to him as the one who shot the former mayor to death in front of the provincial office of the Commission on Elections inside the Capitol compound. The incident happened few days before the last May elections. 

  But Judge Esther Veloso of the Regional Trial Court Branch 6 said she would not rule on the motion yet to give the prosecution a chance to submit its comment.

Pigon was tagged by police witnesses as the gunman allegedly hired by Illustrisimo’s political rival, Dominggo Zaspa.

Zaspa, however, was cleared by the Cebu City Prosecutors’ Office of the murder charge for lack of evidence.

Pigon, who was dismissed from police service in 2004 after going absent without leave, said his neighbors could testify that he was in Antipolo City during the time Illustrisimo was killed. — Fred P. Languido/LPM